


Frontier

by AraniWrites



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Asexual Romance, Canon Divergence, Experimenting with ideas, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Injury warning, Slow Burn, alec ryder lives au, blood warning, lots of fluff though, macen barro lives au, there will be no smut here since both are ace
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-13
Updated: 2017-10-28
Packaged: 2018-10-18 08:35:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 38
Words: 148,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10613211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AraniWrites/pseuds/AraniWrites
Summary: What if the Pathfinder's work started before Andromeda? What if the story of the Ryder family was vastly different? What might have changed-- for everyone?Sara Ryder never expected to end up in Andromeda, but when her path collides with the Initiative her life changes forever. With a role she never asked for, a new crew, her confusing family and the Salarian pilot Kallo Jath by her side, Sara will embark on a journey of self-discovery to face a world she never anticipated, a world that will challenge everything she has ever known and everything she holds dear.This story surrounds the life of my character Sara Ryder; before, during and after the events of Mass Effect Andromeda. In this story I will be diverging from canon in many ways and it will obviously contain ME:A spoilers. (Also keep in mind that this story will not, at any point, develop into smut since both Sara and Kallo are Asexual. It's an ace romance all the way, kissing is the extent. ^_^)This fic version is not receiving Ao3 updates, but it is on other platforms! Go to the last chapter of this story for the details of Frontier's future!





	1. Prologue

**This fic version is not receiving Ao3 updates, but it is on other platforms! Go to the last chapter of this story for the details of Frontier's future! I'll be keeping this up on Ao3 in the meantime, there is still a lot of content. I hope you guys enjoy it! =D**

\---

_“Your daughter passed all Two Hundred advanced testing courses with near perfect scores.”_

The room was dim. Sara had been having trouble with the lights, so all that came in was light from outside the window. The hospital room was small, plain white wallpaper with only that small window out into the world. The view of the Citadel was nice, sure, but restrictive. Her parents had retreated to the hallway outside with a Salarian and an Asari she didn’t recognize.

Scott was with her. He had helped Sara to sit up in her bed, and was now acting as her rest, sitting just behind her so she could read comfortably. She wanted to see his homework; she’d missed going to proper school and found the tutoring boring, so they worked on it together, and were just finishing up the Science’s portion.

“Parabolic orbit.” She told him, and he wrote it down. She scratched at the small tubes of air that were connected to her nose, seemingly annoyed with them.

“Look Sara,” Scott gave her a new distraction, “Dinosaurs.”

_“There’s advanced Mathematics and Engineering programs here on the Citadel, under the multi-species initiative; Tar’Van’s School for Gifted Children. She is the first human invited to take their classes.”_

_“Sara’s only ten years old.”_

_“They want to take her early.”_

Sara looked out the window as Scott was writing down another answer. The Citadel’s fleet was beginning to fly overhead, as part of a celebration being held in the Presidium. Scott noticed her staring at the ships.

“I want to see them.” Sara told him. Scott looked between her and the ships outside. He smiled for her. 

“Okay.”

_“This is all assuming she’s able to leave the hospital.”_

_“Under intensive physical therapy, Sara would be strong enough to leave our care in around eight months time.”_

_“That’s just before the next semester is set to start. Mr. and Mrs. Ryder, the school has reviewed her medical situation and are willing to accommodate in any capacity necessary. Tar’Van’s primary focus is the educational advancement of gifted children, regardless of species or medical hurdles.”_

_“After the therapy is completed, all she would need is medications.”_

_“That is perfectly acceptable.”_

_“What about her dance classes, or her figure skating? She has expressed her desire to continue them. It would crush her to lose that creative outlet.”_

_“Dance takes strength and is a good form of exercise, it would benefit her health and keep her out of hospital care.”_

_“The school does not wish to take away from any recreational activities, it is absolutely beneficial to the growth of children. The school wouldn’t stop her from taking the classes.”_

Scott took her favorite scarf and gently wrapped it beneath the air tubes. He helped Sara sit at the edge of her bed and pulled on her fluffy socks, then slipped quickly into his shoes. 

“Are you still cold?”

“Yeah.”

Scott took off his jacket and gave it to her, helping her pull it over her patient’s clothes. Then he took the portable air bag and strapped it around her arm. He took hold of her forearms and gave her an encouraging smile.

“Okay; 1, 2...3.” He helped her off of the bed. Her feet touched the ground, and the sudden weight caused her to stumble in pain. Scott caught her and kept her standing, and after a moment Sara pulled herself relatively upright. “Come on Sara.” She put her arm over his shoulders, he supported her from behind, and together the two children limped their way through the door and out into the hall. 

The kids didn’t notice their parents standing just down the hall, but they all noticed the two making their way to the big window across from her door. Sara’s nurses started towards the kids, but Alec and Ellen quickly stopped them; they watched as Sara managed to start walking without Scott’s help, limping right up to the window. She pressed herself to the glass and looked up to the ships passing overhead, smiling as they saw fireworks.

She never let go of Scott’s hand, and he never left her side.

_“We have never seen a mind like the one your daughter has. You have to see what she becomes.”_


	2. Waterfalls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara Ryder enters the world of the Initiative to build a ship like none before it: The Tempest

Sur’Kesh was beautiful. Far more beautiful than any vids made it out to be. The waterfalls and lush jungles were sights she could stare at all day and never tire of.

Sara was on a civilian transport, traveling just above the landscape delivering people where they needed to go. They passed large cities and research centers, stopping fairly often. The transport had many passengers, mostly Salarians with a few other species here and there. Some of them had a suitcase or two like she did, others were simply on their way to work. Some of them gave her strange glances, but most ignored her, and that was just fine by her. She was content to taking in all the sights through the window. 

Her stop was one of the last, one of the smaller cities that was more of a facility than a city. It was a little out of the way of everything else, the Salarian’s contribution to the Andromeda Initiative. The entire facility, including everything within, were toward this end.

Sara was met at the docking bay by a Salarian by the name of Deena. She was kind, and smiled warmly at Sara seemingly without a lick of judgement.

“I trust your journey here was satisfactory?”

“Of course.” Sara told her with a firm nod, “Sur’Kesh is beautiful. It reminds me of Earth.”

“I have seen images of your homeworld,” Deena mentioned, “It’s refreshing to know that our species seem to come from similar lands. We hope you’ll be comfortable here, Ms. Ryder.”

She showed Sara to the studio apartment she had been assigned, and Sara dropped off her suitcase before following Deena through the research centers. Everything about the facility was open air, with views of the jungle and waterfalls. The air smelled so clean and fresh, she couldn’t help but smile at it all.

“The tram here will take you to stores, recreational centers, medical clinics and other necessity centers.” Deena explained, “This is our Science wing, and across the bridge here are Initiative Operations centers.” They crossed another bridge to a slightly larger building than the rest. “And this is our Engineering station.”

They passed through hallways with many researching stations lining the walls, Salarians rushing around doing their work at a fast pace, which Sara immediately appreciated. The fast pace was something she easily related to, and it made her smile; she would enjoy working here.

Deena led her to the back of the station, where they moved into a smaller room occupied by four individuals. It was more isolated from the rest of the station; Sara knew the project was more sensitive than others but this surprised her. The room and desks were littered with datapads, with holographics screens of equations and blueprints.

“Deena! Finally joining the rabble are you?” 

“Your smartass mouth will land you in trouble one of these days, Teon.” Deena smiled, “If I could have a moment?”

All four of them stopped in their work and turned their full attention to them and, specifically, to Sara. “This is Sara Ryder, she’s now your Mathematician on the Tempest project, and she has extensive Engineering qualifications.” With smiles, the group all gathered to shake her hand and give their greetings. “You have my frequency Ms. Ryder, if you need anything please contact me.” With a nod, Deena left the room.

“Ryder huh? I’m Kallo Jath.” The Salarian was first to introduce himself, shaking her hand firmly with a warm and kind smile. “Pilot and Engineer. This is Sorenna Helikos, our programmer; Teon'Adda vas Moreh, aerospace engineer; and James O'Connell, systems designer.”

“I read your thesis on _The Dependability of Interspecies Mathematical Conversion_.” Sorenna told her, “I’m so glad to meet you in person, Ryder.”

An embarrassed smile wormed onto her face, “Thank you.” She managed, thinking that she must have been blushing. “Just Sara, if you don’t mind.”

“Come on, we’ll show you what we have so far.” 

Sara quickly learned that what they had was next to nothing. The Tempest project had only just begun, and there was a lot of work ahead. She also learned that the Initiative wasn’t quite sure of what they wanted from the Tempest. For now, they needed the math necessary for an FTL Drive to be stable enough to move a ship at a rate faster than any ship built to date without it exploding in the process. The math behind that was math they didn’t actually have yet. That was her primary focus.

She didn’t talk to them much, instead got straight to work on writing and checking over equations. They had a ship to build, after all. The math wouldn’t create itself. She did spend a little time watching them work, listening to their conversations. They seemed pleasant, hard working and dedicated to the project. That was all any could ask for.

She was the last to leave for the day; according to Kallo, the Engineering teams were given fairly strict hours to work, to make sure none of their groups worked outrageous overtime. There were too many mixed in species and the Initiative worried about accidents due to overworked Engineers, a policy she agreed with sure but she was also known for losing track of time. By the time she left most of the offices were dark, spare a few people burning the midnight oil. Night on Sur’Kesh was warm with refreshing brushes of wind that passed across the bridges. The waterfalls made for wonderful and relaxing white noise.

Sara’s apartment was small, a studio by human standards. There was a small kitchen with a single table. A human’s bed was on the far side of the room with a nearby closet and bathroom, and a couch with a short coffee table took much of the rest of the space.

She had to admit, they did a good job in replicating a human-like setting. It was nice to see them trying to accommodate the various species that were working on the Initiative. 

She went to open the lone window; there was an attached padded seat that was just beneath the window, where she sat and looked outside. She was honestly blown away at the view, it was like the building was suspended over the cliff with a great view of the jungle and a nearby waterfall. She almost couldn’t believe it, did every city on Sur’Kesh have such views? For a moment, she wondered if she’d been assigned to the right place.

Sara sighed and stretched, finally able to take a breather. She turned on the TV to a news channel, then left her omni-tool online on the dresser. She pinged Scott to see if he was still awake, and unpacked while she waited to see if he would reply. 

She took out her holo-picutres and hung them along the wall. They depicted her family and old friends. Most of the pictures were of her and Scott; one of her favorites was one of them holding up bronze medals, wearing elegant evening attire with a dancefloor in the background. She remembered her and Scott winning third place in the Ballroom Dance competition, and how happy they had been. A couple depicted them Swing Dancing with friends, Swing wasn’t something they had done competitions in but it was absolutely their favorite. 

The last one she pulled out was her at eighteen, figure skating in a competition wearing that ridiculously sparkly outfit; the dance that won her first place. She pressed the frame and let the embedded video play out; she remembered every move, how much power and energy each flip and twirl took, and she found herself humming the song she’d danced to that night. She figured the Salarians likely didn’t have skating rinks on Sur’Kesh, but she hoped that if she was ever given a decent amount of time off she could go to the Citadel and use one of the few built there.

Just as she was finishing unpacking, her omni-tool rang out. A picture of Scott’s face flashed on the screen, and she smiled wide as she answered his call.

“Scott! Did I wake you?”

“Not at all.” Her brother was smiling back at her just as wide, “I just got in.”

“Still watching that Relay huh?”

“Unfortunately.” He groaned, “I should request for a transfer.”

“You know what they say about seeking out trouble.”

“Yeah, Sara Ryder shows up. Come on, you’re the Queen of trouble.” That got her laughing, and he looked quite proud of himself for that. “What about you, did you make it to Sur’Kesh?”

“I did.” She told him, “Gosh, it’s beautiful here Scott. I’ll send you a picture of my view in the morning. I half expect them to kick me out of here in a case of mistaken-identity.”

Scott grinned, “They wanted a Mathematician, and they got one. Is the Tempest all you thought it’d be?”

“Tempest?” She scoffed, “Damn thing doesn’t exist yet. Not even in a blueprint. We’re starting from scratch here. What IS there is, well…”

“Classified, gotcha. What about the doctor?”

“I’m seeing him tomorrow.”

“Good… how’d dad take that?”

Sara groaned and fell backwards onto her bed, dramatically grumbling. “Believe me, I got an earful about this entire assignment.”

“Just do the work,” Scott told her, “let him stew, better not to let it get under your skin.”

“Yeah.” She sighed.

“We should both get some sleep sis. I’ll call you again tomorrow, okay?”

“Sure. Actually sleep this time.” She told him, “Or I’ll come over there and kick your ass.”

Scott laughed, “I’d like to see you try. Night Sara.”

“Night Scott.”

\---

Sara had woken just before the sun came up. She took some time for herself, moving the coffee table and doing some Yoga. When she was done she showered and left for the trams.

It was a short ride to the facility hub, where many were gathered to get to work or run their errands. She noticed the variety of shops and centers; it was quite obviously designed to accommodate more than just Salarians. Even the single grocery store seemed to have many sections for both dextro and levo foods.

Sara found her way to the medical clinic to make her appointment, where she was quickly met by a Salarian, Doctor Elon.

“Carlson told me a thing or two about you.” Elon was immediately kind, a welcoming personality. He seemed to take his work as a doctor very seriously. He talked adamantly as he gave Sara her checkup.

“Good things I hope.”

“Very good, in fact.” He nodded, “Carlson and I go way back, we studied in Huerta Memorial together. Warned me to keep an eye on you, said you leaned toward recklessness.” He joked.

Sara laughed at that, “He’d be right about that. Comes with the job.” He started checking her blood-pressure, “Doctor, is this amount of kindness and understanding customary on Sur’Kesh? It’s been nothing but pleasant here.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” He told her, “I would not extend this to my brethren though. Most of my kind are inherently suspicious. The Initiative’s premise is what invites the cultural understanding; its core foundation is based on mutual cooperation. I think everyone in this facility does their best to emulate that, gets the work done.” Elon finished her examination with a simple eye-check before making himself comfortable on his chair. “So, are you experiencing any increased pain?”

“Nope.”

“Headaches? Fatigue? Loss of appetite?”

“Not more than the usual.”

“Good. GH-1033 hasn’t had nearly enough scientific study. We don’t know whether the Atmosphere on Sur’Kesh will affect your system or not. If you feel an increase in symptoms, contact my office immediately.” Elon handed her a bottle of medications, “Take two of these a day when you wake up, before you eat anything. Keep yourself hydrated, and I recommend you visit the Gym at least three times a week where work allows.”

“There’s a gym here?”

“Yes,” He nodded, “Right near here in fact, it was built when we had an influx of Turian Engineers joining the Initiative. It’s open 21 hours a day, so please use it as much as possible. I would also like you to come here for a checkup every fifteen days.”

“That wasn’t necessary back on Earth.”

“You have just recently been classified as Stage Three.” Elon explained patiently, in a way that wouldn’t alarm her, “It will require a more frequent monitoring of your health, but that’s not a bad situation. We still don’t know enough about GH-1033, so this is purely a precaution.”

“Alright.” Sara shrugged her shoulders and stood, “Thank you doctor.”

“Good luck with your work.” He smiled, “You’ll do us all proud.”

Sara made it into work that day fifteen minutes early, resuming all of the equations she’d stopped the night before with a renewed determination.

Yes, she would work hard to do the Initiative proud.


	3. Rhyme and Reason

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara is beginning to settle into the Tempest team, with a little help from Kallo, a fast friend in a fast-paced world.

There was an automatic rhythm that Sara instantly felt. A rhyme and reason to everything the group did, a routine that she fell so easily into.

They had to figure out this ship, from scratch. They did they best with what they had to work with, with a confused administration and no solid guidelines to follow. They all knew, they were working blind.

Sara was working on the math, calculating by day, thinking by night. She did have one solid requirement: the ship had to be fast. Mind-bogglingly fast. She could work with that.

Teon and Kallo were drawing up very basic blueprints. Nothing fancy, but something they could all base their work from. They had no design, nothing, and were simply moving on a basis of trial and error. There was a lot of input from the rest of the Engineering department on shape, size and weight that they had to sift through. The days turned into weeks.

The group always had the last day of the week off. Sara usually took that time for a hard day at the gym, but her latest calculations were following her. Trying to work out the speeds was a question she still hadn’t been able to crack, and a question that was constantly on her mind.

Before she really realized where she was going, Sara ended up back in the Engineering wing. Despite it being her day off, she went in to get some work done anyway, get ahead of the schedule, gain some kind of meager ground. 

As she was about to open the door, Kallo walked out, quite nearly hitting her in the face. “Oh, Sara! Sorry about that.” He laughed, a sound she found to be rather comforting. 

“Trying to get ahead of the schedule too huh?” She asked him.

“Something like that. Was about to break for lunch actually.” He held up a bag with his lunch, “It occurs to me we haven’t really gotten to talk. Want to join me?”

Sara hadn’t eaten, and her stomach conveniently rumbled at the thought. So with a smile, she followed him outside behind the Engineering wing. There was an open-air area there, specifically for the Engineering wing. Those on break were eating their lunches and socializing, many species congregated together. There was even an area Sara equated to a lawn, the grass wasn’t Earth grass but it seemed similar enough. The two found a smaller table tucked away in the corner of the break area.

“Now that you mention it, I guess I haven’t been talking to anyone in the wing.” She hummed, “Too focused on equations and conversions. My professors used to nag me about talking through my thought processes too loudly.”

“Oh believe me, you would not be the first. O’Connell didn’t talk to us for a month when he first got here.” He smiled wide, friendly and open, “Figuring out this ship is going to take everything we have, but I doubt that means we need to be strangers. Can I ask you questions?”

“Sure, if I can ask my own questions.” Kallo beamed, which she found equally as infectious as his laughter.

“I heard about your graduation from Tar’Van’s. I think at least half of the facility knows your name for various reasons. What brings you from one of the Galaxy’s most elite schools all the way planetside? I’m sure you had your pick of any project you wanted with that resume.”

Sara shrugged, swallowing her bite of food. “You’d be surprised. I was actually stuck working for Alliance assholes on Luna Base, Earth stationing. I was programing launch codes day in and day out, extremely dull. When your own father breaks the law developing AI technology, a lot of doors start slamming in your face. Figured I’d be stuck at Luna for a while, it paid the bills anyway. Then I got a call from Jein Garson.”

“The Initiative mind herself, impressive.”

“I didn’t know she was the head of the project at first. All I knew was that she was ignoring my family name and asking for a Mathematician. I figured this job couldn’t be any worse than Luna Base. And there’s waterfalls here.” They laughed easily, as if it had always been so. She felt her worries melting away. “What about you? You got a story?”

Kallo’s eyes glazed over, just slightly, as he seemed to be slipping into memory. “It’s pretty simple really. I was born into a life so boring even you couldn’t calculate it.”

“Really?”

“Tragic, I know.” He smiled, “I was wanted in a bureaucratic role for Parohe Aerospace, cataloguing ships and what not. But that wasn’t my dream, I wanted to fly the ships instead of making listings of them all day, so I left the planet and trained as a pilot. Once that was done I became a Test-Pilot for new ship models. Not long ago the Initiative contacted me about the Tempest project, turns out Parohe was so insistent that the Initiative not recruit my expertise that the Initiative took notice. So, here I am, back on my homeworld building this ship.”

“Must be nice to be back in your own stomping grounds.”

“I like the planet and my people, but I’ve never been attached to tradition. This project, going all the way to the Andromeda Galaxy? Too intriguing to pass up. It’s so ambitious, I had to be a part of it in some small way.”

“Are you actually joining them? Leaving the Milky Way once this is done?”

“No way, I’ll probably be retired by the time the Initiative launches anyway. I’m just here for the ship.” He sipped his drink before talking again, “So, why not ‘Ryder’?”

Sara scoffed, but all in good fun. “I hate that. Makes me feel like my old man is standing right behind me. We’ve never been on good terms but it seems names are more important than skill.”

“Not in all cases. Not here in the Initiative that’s for sure.”

Sara raised her drink, “A toast to new beginnings!” Kallo grinned and raised his own.

“Here here!”

-

After speaking to Kallo, Sara found herself becoming significantly more open with the rest.

It was easier once her tensions had calmed. She was able to jump more into their conversations and their collaborations grew smoother. One day Sorenna wheeled in a huge holo-board, and everyone began to add their notes, thoughts, ship-sketches and ideas to the board on a regular basis for them to discuss. The routine was nice and familiar, everything she wanted and needed in a workspace. 

As the third week was coming to a close, Sara was alone in their office. The rest had gone off to have their lunch-break, but she’d stayed behind to finish her current calculations. True to Sara Ryder fashion, she completely lost track of the time.

When she looked up, it had been almost an hour, and her omni tool was beeping with an incoming message.

_“Sara.”_ Kallo’s voice through the Tool didn’t give her any chance to speak once she’d answered, _“Get your ass out of that chair and come outside for a few minutes before I drag you out here. You work like a robot.”_

Sara laughed out loud, setting down her datapad. “Fine, fine. I’m coming.”

Sara grabbed her lunch and headed outside. There wasn’t anyone else out there save for her team; she realized it was an odd hour and the lunch-rush had passed. The group was up and running around, throwing a frisbee back and forth, using their break to get some exercise and energy. She found the table they’d taken and watched quietly, chuckling at their energy and enjoyment of the game. 

A few minutes later, Sorenna threw the frisbee right into a gust of wind. The wind carried the frisbee up and away, over to the radio tower in the corner of the lot, far up high and depositing it a good six stories up.

“Nice one Sorenna.” O’Connell deadpanned as everyone gathered together.

“Shut up, it was the wind's fault.”

“We’re not getting that back, are we?”

Sara stood and went to the group, looking up at the frisbee with them.

“What’s the problem?” She asked, “It’s just a radio tower, it won't electrocute you.”

“Climbing up there is against regulation.” Kallo shrugged, “I don’t think we can--”

“Pfff.” Sara unzipped her jacket and shrugged it off, throwing it backwards as she headed for the tower, the jacket just barely being caught by Teon. “Regulations my ass, watch and learn.”

Sara went up to the section of the tower she could reach. She found her footing, took a breath, and began scaling the tower. She was quick and made it look easy, climbing up the side like it was a ladder when, clearly, it was not. The group just stared, dumbfounded. 

As she was reaching the frisbee, O’Connell called up, “What the hell are you, spiderwoman?! Quit showing off!”

Sara laughed, throwing the frisbee down to them. “What, like it’s hard?!” She took a moment up there to feel the breeze and look out over the scenery, it was a beautiful view from her vantagepoint. After a minute she climbed back down just as quickly as she’d gotten up, reaching the ground without a scratch.

She walked over to them with a wide smile, taking back her jacket and throwing it over her shoulder. She noticed that they weren’t really sure whether they should look her in the eye or stare at her tattoo sleeves, and she realized it was the first time she was actually showing them something of herself.

“I have a history in the complex art of Parkour.” She explained, “My father is an avid rock climber, what else is there to expect?” 

At that moment, Teon began to laugh. It quickly spread until all of them were in various states of amusement, eager to return to their lunches; it was perhaps the first time Sara felt fully welcome within the group.

-

It wasn’t more than a day later that a woman marched into the office. She had a strong spring in her step, a wide smile and determined glint to her eyes, with a workbag and four datapads that she promptly plopped down onto the desk that Sara had never seen anyone use.

“Luci!” The rest of the group practically sprang out of their chairs to meet the woman with smiles and handshakes. “How was your honeymoon?” Sorenna asked her.

“Oh, absolutely breathtaking.” The woman sighed wistfully.

“In more ways than one I’ll bet.” O’Connell joked with a side-eye; the woman gasped and punched him in the arm. 

“James, you little shit!”

Sara smiled softly and returned to her calculations, letting the group chat with their friend. She didn’t know if the woman was part of the project or not, and felt no reason to interrupt or pry.

“...and you haven’t met Sara yet, have you?” Kallo was beside her before she noticed or realized him approaching her, tapping her shoulder and bringing her back out of her concentration. The woman was staring at her.

“No, I’d heard we were getting a Mathematician.”

“That’s me.” Sara nodded, standing up and moving from behind her desk, Kallo on her heels. “Sara Ryder, Mathematician and Engineer.” She held out her hand, and the woman took it with a firm grasp and shake.

“Alec’s kid, right?”

“Yes.”

“Good, they finally managed to get us a competent Mathematician.” She laughed, “Lucille Diawara, I’m the lead designer on the Tempest project. It just so happened they brought you in just as I was leaving on my honeymoon.”

“Congratulations!”

“Thank you!” Her smile was bright, warm and positively infectious. “Now, what have we gotten since I left?”

“Gotten?” Teon scoffed, “We haven’t been sent a damn thing, not even a guideline of what they want.”

“Then we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us team, let's make this count.”


	4. Mortality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara gets an unexpected call from her father, and everything changes; even if Sara is the one who doesn't notice.

“The problem here is what will actually be needed in Andromeda.”

The group was all clustered in front of the holo-board, where many rough ship-designs were displayed.

“We have no idea what they’re going to find in a new Galaxy. This ship needs to be ready for absolutely anything.”

“The way I see it,” Teon began, “They’re going to need a tech lab, a bio lab, a research and salvage station, a loadout room, a congregational meeting area, and bridge space. That doesn’t include crew necessities; a galley, kitchen, bunks, Pathfinder’s quarters, a restroom. We also need enough space in the Cargo hold to hold supplies and a land-vehicle, as well as enough space for the drivecore and forward-guns in the event of hostile contact.”

“So how do we fit all of that, coupled with escape pods and the speed the Initiative requires.”

There was silence for a moment before Sara spoke, “You’ll have to remove the guns. Guns add a lot of weight. For the speed they want this ship needs to be light and small. This is a scouting ship, not a military ship.”

“But in the case of hostile Andromeda aliens there needs to be defenses.”

Sara shrugged, “Either you have guns and a slower ship or no guns and a faster ship, there’s no disputing that. The Initiative wants a fast ship so, how do we still defend the ship without weaponry.” And that was where they were all stumped.

“We can start drawing this up, at least.” Lucille told them, “Small, streamlined, easily maneuverable. That’s our starting point.”

“That’s better than what we had yesterday.” Kallo said with a firm nod. “Let’s do this.”

Sara had no inkling of change. She focused on her work, talking over engineering with Teon and programming with Sorenna. Days continued to blur with the workload as they tried to figure out how they were going to build this ship.

That is, until Sara received a call on her omni-tool in the middle of the work day. From her father.

The crew watched her go out into the hallway with a perplexed look on her face. A few minutes later she ran back in and straight to her desk, grabbing up her papers and current calculations.

“Lucille, I’m taking a few days off.” She interrupted their conversation, throwing things into her bag. “I’ll be back.”

“What’s the rush Sara?”

“I need to get back to Earth.” She told her, “My mother, she’s--she won't last another night or two. I need to support my family, say goodbye. I’ll take these calculations with me for the shuttles.”

“Sara, it’s okay really, you can leave those behind.” Lucille told her.

“It’s fine, I got it.” She moved to the door, “Sorry guys.”

“Sara.” She stopped in the door and turned back. The entire crew was looking at her sympathetically. “It’s alright. Take as much time as you need for your family, the Tempest isn’t going anywhere.” Sara stared for a moment before nodding and running off before she could hold herself back. With help from Deena, she managed to get an immediate shuttle out of Sur’Kesh. It was a simple transfer to the Citadel, then on towards Earth.

Sara always knew this was coming. After all, she was dying too. She didn’t need to be told, she didn’t need to beg God for her mother’s salvation. She just wanted to say goodbye; she hoped she wasn’t too late.

When she reached her home city, she made a beeline for the hospital. She was met outside by Scott and Alec, who watched her march toward them. When she reached them, she didn’t stop to say a word; she shoved her father as hard as she could.

“Why didn’t you tell me mom had been admitted to the hospital?!”

Alec didn’t appear to take any offence from her outburst, and Scott stayed out of it. He righted himself and looked her in the eye. “Why?! Why hide that from me?! I could have visited, I could have helped you!”

“Your mother asked me not to.”

“What kind of fucking answer is that?!”

“Sara.” Scott stepped forward, putting his hand on her shoulder, “They didn’t tell me either.”

“We didn’t think it was serious, the doctors told us she’d be home within the week.” Alex explained, “She went downhill rapidly. I called you both as soon as we learned the truth.” Sara scowled and shook her head, moving away from him and pacing back and forth. “Come inside when you’re ready.”

Alec left the two outside as Sara continued to pace, breathing deeply to try and calm herself down. “Sara. You’ll wear down the pavement like that.”

She was furious, he knew that all too well. Scott waited, letting her pace and wear out the anger of the moment. He knew her well enough for that. When she started slowing down, he went over and hugged her. She melted in a combination of upset, anxiety and exhaustion. 

“Damn it.” She muttered into his chest.

“This has always been their way.” Scott reminded her, rubbing her back knowing it would help her calm. “Keeping quiet.”

“Fuck it. I know. That’s never made it right.”

“I know.” Scott sighed, letting her go when she pulled away.

“Sorry Scotty.”

“Hey, I punched him when I got here.”

“And I missed it. Tragic.” They put an arm around each other and went inside together, as inseparable as they had always been.

-

Sara stood beside her mother as Scott and Alec left the room, by Ellen’s request. It was a small room, with white walls that were so familiar. That reminded her of her own time spent in hospital beds, looking out the window wanting something more.

“You’ve got that look about you.” Her mother teased, taking her hand. She pulled Sara down to sit on the bed, not letting her go. “Thinking about your own mortality. That’s nothing to be ashamed of dear.”

“I’m not.” Sara told her mother, and indeed she wasn’t. “You know I’m not, you know I’m prepared for the day. Dad and Scott though… they’re not. Not for you and not for me.”

“You’ve been preparing yourself for this for years.”

“I have to. It’s all I can do.”

Ellen reached up to stroke back her daughter’s hair, “It’s okay sweetheart. You can be sad and still be prepared.” Sara choked up, unable to look her mother in the eye. “I know you feel like you’re running out of time. But even a little bit of time, no matter how little there is left, is enough. As long as you spend that time doing what you love, with people you love. That love is something that not even death can take from you, or from me.”

Sara sucked in a shaking breath, trying very hard not to cry. “Are you scared, mom?”

Ellen smiled at her, “Not at all.” Sara nodded, a little too quickly for comfort. “Promise me something. Do what you love. Find someone to love. Even through so little time, live every moment of it to the fullest. That’s a choice anyone can make.”

Tears streamed down her cheeks, and with a choked sob Sara moved to curl into her mother’s side, taking the brief moment to allow herself to grieve. Allowing herself the time to, perhaps for the first time in her life, fear mortality itself. 

-

Sara stayed on Earth for a week. Her mother passed away peacefully, but she wanted to stay for the funeral, so she waited. In the time she did manage to get some of her calculations done to send back to her team, but she spent most of her time there restless and waiting.

It had been a long time since Sara had thought about her mother’s illness, or her own. She had spent so much of her life moving so quickly to keep herself occupied, to make up for how little time she’d been given. She started to wonder if she’d spent too much of her time moving, if instead there was something she could have done differently, something for her family or perhaps for herself.

The funeral was held quickly. It seemed her father, who had barely spoken to them, or to anybody, was too grief-stricken to handle much more. Sara and Scott got themselves some black attire for the funeral, and they laid their mother to rest surrounded by the many friends Ellen had made over her lifetime. 

And maybe it was because he was so silent. Maybe because, even when Scott and Sara tried to talk to him, he couldn’t manage it. Maybe that was the straw that drove them to isolate for the night, curled into one another for comfort; brother and sister with only each other to cope. There weren’t any more tears, neither had enough energy for tears, but the dread that hung over them was palpable.

“I keep thinking about dad… he loved her so much. Just as much as we did.”

“Ever think about how things could have been different?” Sara asked him. His grip around her tightened.

“All the time.” He told her, “All the time.”

“...Sometimes I wonder if… I don’t know, maybe if i’d spent more time slowing down. Maybe if I’d stopped running from myself, stopped trying to live my life being absolutely perfect, maybe…”

“Stop that.” Scott muttered, shifting a little, “Don’t think like that. This isn’t your fault.” She let out a shaky sigh, snuggling into his chest, letting themselves calm from the week. “I applied for a transfer last week.” He said in an attempt to fill the silence.

“Did you get an answer?”

“My request was denied. The family name strikes again.”

Sara let out a low annoyed sigh, “I’m sorry Scott.”

“If I can prove myself more, make my own name perhaps it’ll stop but…” She felt him shrug, “Who knows.”

“If we ever need an armed guard, you’ll be my first call.” Scott managed out a laugh, and she lightly followed.

“You leaving tomorrow?” He asked.

Sara nodded, “I have to. That’s work for you.”

“Me too. I just don’t want to admit it yet.”

“Hmm. Think dad will be alright here by himself?”

“Dad’s tough. I think he’ll be okay. I think all of us need to figure out how to deal with this in our own ways.”

“Mom would want us to continue on.”

“Yeah, she would. Of course she would.”

-

Sara didn’t make it back to Sur’Kesh until the middle of the night. She was exhausted from the lack of sleep and all those condolence conversations and immediately made her way back to her apartment for some much needed sleep.

However, it only took an hour for her to spring awake, shouting out a string of words she forgot in an instant; a nightmare that left her sweating with her heart racing. 

Perhaps she shouldn’t have been surprised. She’d had them ever since she was a child. The fear of death, the fear of hospital rooms and lost time, medications that only made to increase the violence of the nightmares that never went away. Side effects she just had to deal with.

With a heavy sigh, Sara got herself up and out of her room, headed to the Engineering wing to catch up on the work she’d missed.

Walking in, she noticed a blueprint on the holo-board that was larger than the rest. She wondered if they’d found a design to go off of, but didn’t focus on it for too long. At her desk she found a potted plant, with flowers she didn’t know the name of but we a beautiful deep red color. She smiled slightly at the thoughtful gift, moving it to the corner of the desk so she could use the rest of the space. She made a note to get it some water next time she got up from her desk.

Sara wasn’t too sure how long she was in the Wing, working through the equations she was left with to distract herself. She only vaguely heard the door of the office opening and closing again. It was the wave of his hand that brought her out of her concentration.

“I was told someone was here after hours.” To her surprise it was Kallo, standing in front of her with a look on his face that was a mixture of confusion and sympathy. 

“Kallo? What are you doing here, it’s really late.”

“You’re the one sitting here doing calculations.” He shrugged.

“I… yeah.” She leaned back in her chair, “I guess I have you guys to thank for the flowers?”

“We wanted to do something.” He told her, “Sorenna picked them out though. Never knew she had an eye for flowers.”

“A great eye, my favorite color and everything.”

Kallo’s smile turned to a worried frown, no doubt noticing the dark circles under her eyes. “I know you’re probably not alright, so let me ask you: what are _you_ doing here?”

Sara’s lips pressed together for just a moment, but Kallo caught it nonetheless, “Nightmares.” She told him, trying to sound casual about it, as if it wasn’t bothering her. “I’ve had them since I was a child. Some nights they just can’t be slept through, and if I’m not going to sleep I might as well get some work done.”

Kallo let out a breath with a rather solemn nod. “Well… I know this great brew of tea. It can knock out a Krogan, believe it or not. Would that help?”

Sara’s eyes widened at the gesture, “This late at night? I wouldn’t want you to lose your sleep.”

“Ah, I’ve already slept Sara. Salarians only sleep an hour or so a night, you don’t need to worry about that.”

“I…” Sara sighed, giving in and giving him a small smile of gratitude. “Yes. That would help a lot.”

Kallo walked her back to her apartment, then ran to his to get the right herbs for this tea. When he got back she let him have free reign of the kitchen as she finished up the final calculations of her current set; Kallo argued her, told her to relax, but she insisted on getting it done.

Kallo left the tea to brew on the stove, and Sara took that time to get water for the flowers while she wouldn’t be in his way.

“This is you, isn’t it?”

Sara peered around the corner, where she saw Kallo watching the video of her and Scott ballroom dancing through the holo-pictures she’d hung on her wall.

“Yeah.” She went back for her flowers, when she returned he was watching them Swing Dancing. “That’s my twin brother there, back in our teenage years. We were active; dancing, freerunning and parkour, lots of working out and marathon running.”

“I can tell he’s your twin, you two look very much alike.” Kallo moved to the last one, of Sara figure skating. “I’ve never seen anything like this, you’re amazing.”

Sara stumbled a little at the compliment, clearing her throat and setting the flowers in the window. “Thank you.” She smiled, going into the kitchen as the kettle whistled. She came back in with a cup of the tea and some water for Kallo, at his request. “I wish it was worth a damn.”

“What do you mean?” He asked, sitting down across from her, “I could never do anything like that.”

“Sure you could, it just takes practice and hard work.” Sara shrugged, sipping at the tea. It had a strong taste to it, but it wasn’t bad. “Dancing is something I always loved to do, but it turned into entering competitions and devoting… probably more time than I should have to it. Trying to be perfect instead of having fun. I did that in school too, top of my class and pushing myself even though I was already in the best school on the Citadel. Now that I’m older I realize it was subconscious, from the need to be just as fantastic and renowned as my father. The great Alec Ryder, the one who was first through Sol’s Mass Relay, who fought in the first contact war, who was a decorated N7 Marine, and who married the great Ellen Harlow, a scientific genius.” She shook her head sadly, “Death has a way of making one think of ‘could have beens’.”

“That’s why you left the Alliance for this job, isn’t it?” Kallo asked her. She looked at him a moment, then let out a short breath of laughter.

“You have quite a way of reading me, you know that?” He smiled at her, just for a moment, “That was a big reason, I’ll admit. Finally taking the time to work on my own passions.”

“I understand completely.” His face was calming and understanding, no judgments to be seen. “My family is about six hundred strong, and almost all of them wanted me to go into those bureaucratic roles, becoming a pilot was... not what they wanted for me. But I think everyone needs to live their own lives, not lives for the sake of family.”

“Wait wait wait, six _hundred_?” She asked incredulously.

“Yes?” His brows furrowed, “Isn’t that… oh, right, I forgot. Cultural differences.” Kallo laughed, “All Salarians have very large families of brothers, sisters, parents and extended family. We call them Clans.”

“Wow. I’ve only ever had three family members, my parents and Scott.” Sara chuckled at the thought, “How do you remember them all?”

“It’s easy really. Salarians have photographic memories, we can always remember the names and faces of our Clans, of people we meet. Apparently, mine is unusually sharp. I can see the faces of my Clan in as clear focus as I see yours right now.”

“Doesn’t that get… I don’t know, impersonal?”

“Not at all, quite the opposite in fact. I remember everyone I ever worked with, my Clan, people I connect to. I’m always there, always involved.” He smiled, his eyes had that glazed over look they did the first time they spoke, “I’ll always remember the work we put into the Tempest too. And everything I do afterwards. Good days, bad days; smiles, laughter, sadness, the jokes and camaraderie. I think the saying goes, people aren’t dead while someone still remembers them. That goes for projects, places, feelings.”

When he broke from his gaze and looked at her, she was smiling. It was a soft smile, very natural, a smile he’d never seen on her face before. Something so comfortable and pleasant that, just for a moment, he held his breath.

“You’re lucky.” She told him quietly, “Humans… forget. But maybe that’s just a matter of cultural differences huh?”

They laughed lightly, only interrupted by a sudden yawn from Sara. Kallo noticed she’d emptied her cup. “Get yourself to bed.” He said, leaning over to pat the back of her hand. “The tea will kick in any minute. Don’t worry about coming in on time tomorrow, I’ll explain everything to Lucille.”

“... Maybe leave out the nightmares bit?” She asked him.

“Of course.”

Sara nodded, yawning again into her hand. Kallo stood to leave, “Kal?” He turned to her smiling after him. “Thanks, for all of this.”

Kallo smiled back at her, “Anytime Sara. Anytime.”

As he left, Kallo made a mental note to check on her again. He couldn’t help but smile; it was perhaps the first time he’d spoken to someone who understood, even if she didn’t realize it yet.

Sara woke up the next day feeling more rested than she’d ever been and, rather conveniently, thought the same thoughts as Kallo; someone who understood.

What a rarity that was.


	5. Scars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where were they on that faithful day? How did Sara get those scars on her eye? How did they survive?
> 
> Sara and Kallo find themselves on the Citadel during a horrific and terrifying attack, forcing them to push themselves and each other to the limit to survive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note that this chapter has, indeed, been updated from its original state, so if it seems different from the first time you read it that's why. =) Changed on 6/8/17

Perhaps it was karma coming back to bite her in the ass. Maybe it was fate, destiny, or sheer stupid bad luck. All in all, she considered it a pretty rotten situation all around, and wondered how in the world she’d ended up there at all.

The Tempest wasn’t near ready to build yet, but they were making good progress. While they still had no answer as to how they would protect the ship without guns, they had a very basic blueprint decided upon for the ship’s design. Sara herself was fond of it, she described it as “slick and elegant” and she knew she could make it very fast without the guns in place.

And it was this progress that took Kallo and Sara to the Citadel to pick up some TC-8 power cells for Sorenna, the first step in building up their navigational and computing systems, enough to get them started.

“Anything else we need while we’re in the realm of decent commerce?”

Kallo thought for a moment, looking into the bag to check their items, “I don’t think so. If we waste any more time Sorenna will give us an ear full.”

Sara shook her head with a short laugh as they made their way to the taxi station. It was a quiet day in the wards, people of all species going on with their lives and work. Sara noticed a group of kids playing kickball beside a nearby fountain, and many others simply enjoying the day through discussions and laughter.

Sara would readily admit that she’d never particularly missed the Citadel, it brought about many memories she would rather forget, but there were other memories it spawned that she enjoyed. Old friends, days spent with her family, school days and science fairs, dance classes with Scott and running from C-Sec when they got caught freerunning between the wards. She smiled to herself and allowed herself to remember those good times over the bad ones.

As Sara and Kallo walked, the first mention of something being wrong was Avina, who’s holo began to glitch and her voice phased in and out. No one really paid any attention, but Sara could tell that Kallo had noticed as she had.

A minute later, there was a small shaking, and a distant sound that was very muffled to accompany it. This time, some people took notice. Kallo and Sara stopped to look around, shooting each other perplexed looks.

“Did that sound like what I think it sounded like?” Kallo asked her.

“I… don’t know.”

The sound happened again, a deep sound that resonated throughout the entire ward, accompanied by a more violent shaking that had a few people shouting in surprise. Murmurs were running through the crowd about what was happening, what they should do, when another tremor happened that was much worse and knocked many people off their feet.

Kallo caught Sara as she stumbled, and together they managed to steady themselves. Seconds later, Avina’s voice began to blare like a loud speaker all across the Ward.

**“EVACUATION ORDER HAS BEEN ISSUED. PLEASE PROCEED TO YOUR NEAREST EVACUATION CENTER.”**

The message repeated over and over again as people began moving towards their evacuation center, confused and concerned but not panicked. There had been drills before and people knew where to go. Sara and Kallo followed the crowd.

“I was born here, I have never seen an evacuation order issued.” Sara told him with great worry.

“Those sounded a lot like explosions.”

“I know. Perhaps a power facility had an accident?”

As they moved along the ward, the crowds came to a halt. The ground began to shake considerably more than it had been. Moments later, everyone’s eyes turned above them as the fake blue-sky dissolved, and they were left with a full view of the outside of the citadel. 

In space, a battle was raging between council ships and vessels Sara didn’t recognize. The explosions were coming from Wards that had been impacted with debris from the battle. And, as they watched, the remains of a ship slammed into the ward nearest their own. Most had to cover their ears from the sound of the explosion, and it caused debris to fall from the violence of the shaking.

All at once, people began to scream, racing for the evacuation point as fast as they could run. Kallo was immediately knocked down by a panicked Asari, but Sara had managed to get a firm grip on his arm before he hit the ground. She hauled him back up and grabbed his hand, propelling them both down the ward along with the panicked people. 

The fall has caused them both to be stuck in the last few lines of people exiting the ward. As they ran, Kallo glanced up and noticed from outside that a large piece of debris was floating towards them at velocity. He realized in that same moment what that meant, and pulled him and Sara to a sliding stop.

“We won’t make it!” He shouted, pulling her away from the crowd and down an Alley, away from the evacuation point. Sara looked back for just a moment and saw the debris, knowing immediately what it meant. They ran to a different street where no people were present, and in the final moments they managed to take cover behind a stairwell.

The entire ward shook violently, and the two covered their heads as explosions rang throughout. Debris was falling all around them, and they held onto one another out of pure unbridled terror. Sara heard Kallo yelp and curl down more into the ground, and just barely noticed the shrapnel that had embedded itself in the wall just beside him.

When the explosions and shaking stopped, relatively, the two uncurled from one another with caution. Sara looked around them; there was debris all over the street, buildings knocked over and walls destroyed, holes in the floor and the very bottom of the stairwell they had hidden under. 

As Sara began to move, Kallo let her go with a groan. He moved to grab his upper right arm, just below his shoulder. He was shaking just a little, his face contorting into a pained grimace.

“Kallo? Let me see.” Sara immediately moved and turned him, gently pulling his hand away from his arm. There was a gaping wound there where shrapnel had hit him; he was lucky none of it had gotten into his back. 

Kallo glanced at it, “Damn.” He muttered, forcing himself to keep his hand off his arm.

“Oh, okay uhm…” Sara breathed out and checked her pockets; she had nothing useful on her. Scared and worried, she tried to think. “Just breathe Kal, we’re alright.” 

“Your shirt.” He told her through the pain, “Tear off one of the sleeves.” Sara didn’t argue him at all, she tore off her jacket to get to her shirt’s long sleeves. She tore one sleeve off of her arm and, as per his instructions, tightly wrapped the cloth around his wound in their best attempt to stop the bleeding. “Thanks.” 

“Thanks to you too.” She told him, both of their voices shaken. The two crawled out from under the stairwell and into the street, where they saw pockets of fire and debris littering everything. Above them the battle continued to rage. “Let’s head to the… the… oh god…”

The two gaped when they saw it. All the buildings they’d passed running had, for the most part, collapsed. They could see the street they had been running on to get to the evacuation point. That entire section of the ward had been crushed by one of the enemy ships that had been shot down.

Including all of the people.

“It’s gone… what now?”

They knew they needed to reach some evacuation point, but they didn’t know where to go. Out of options, Sara reluctantly brought up her omni-tool.

“SAM, I require an emergency response.”

After a few moments her Tool beeped, **“Hello Sara. How can I be of assistance?”**

“I’m stuck in the Citadel and the evacuation point has been destroyed. Plot an alternate route.”

**“Plotting.”**

“What is--?”

“Later.” Sara told him.

**“Warning, the Citadel is currently under enemy attack.”**

“Yeah SAM we noticed, plot a course.”

**“Please wait, systems are scrambled.”**

“Hurry SAM, this is--” Both Kallo and Sara straightened when they heard an odd sound, something definitely living and not just debris falling. The two looked around them, peering around debris until they saw it.

Huddled not far away from them was a group of children composed of Turians, Salarians and Humans. The children had taken cover in a ventilation shaft to get away from the debris, and had survived the explosion. However, Sara very quickly saw that a few of them were seriously injured, and all of them were terrified.

“Hey hey, shhh.” She and Kallo both crouched down to the children, and Sara put out her hand. “It’s okay now, everything is okay. Come on out, all of you.” The kids did as instructed through teary eyes and sniffles. Kallo and Sara helped pull out the three most injured children, while the rest sat against the wall and each other. Sara noticed that a few of them were the kids who she’d seen playing kickball not long before. There were ten of them in all. 

Kallo tended to the children as SAM got back to Sara. She stood and moved away from the group to speak to him, “We need a route out of here now, a way to get these children out.”

 **“I cannot currently detect an exit that is not blocked by fire or debris.”** SAM told her, **“Hostiles are nearby. I recommend hiding until they pass.”**

“Hostiles? What kind of hostiles?”

**“Unknown. The apartments nearby are relatively undamaged. They would offer you the best cover.”**

Sara went to Kallo and immediately moved to pick up the Turian child who couldn’t walk. “We need to leave right now.” She told him without waiting for him to ask her any questions. “Come on children, follow me.”

Kallo had grabbed a Salarian child whose leg was badly damaged. One of the older children took the last injured child himself, and together the group followed Sara down the street and through a partially-open doorway, into a line of apartments. All of the doors were closed or blocked by debris, save for one, which she promptly went to. The children followed as she set them all up in the corner of the apartment; it was mostly undamaged save for broken windows. 

“I’m going to look for a medical pack.” Kallo told her as he began searching the small apartment for anything he could use. The first thing he brought over was a blanket from the bed.

 **“Sara. Hostiles are converging on your area. Your heat signatures have been detected.”** Sara stiffened and looked to the door.

“Suggestions?”

**“Defend yourself.”**

At that moment, they all heard heavy footsteps moving down the corridor, coupled with strange computerized sounds that Sara had never heard before. She quickly shushed the children as Kallo tried to search as quietly as possible. “Everyone please stay quiet.” She whispered. “I’ll handle this.”

They all jumped when they heard screams and gunfire. Sara moved towards the door and peered outside, just as a strange looking metal creature was going into one of the apartments.

“What is that thing?” 

**“A Geth Trooper.”**

“Geth?” She asked as Kallo moved up behind her, to see if there was anything he could do.

**“Synthetic AI created by the Quarians centuries ago.”**

“What are they doing on the Citadel?” Kallo asked.

**“Unknown.”**

They ducked back inside as the Geth trooper went back out into the hallway. Sara took a deep breath, “They know we’re here?”

**“Yes.”**

“Alright.” She looked at Kallo, “Keep looking for medical supplies.” They heard the trooper getting closer. “I’m going to take care of that thing.”

Kallo grabbed her before she could move. “Without guns? Sara that’s insane, we have no defenses.”

“We have one. Trust me.” Kallo stared at her for a minute, and she saw emotions of fear, concern and awe flash across his face as he tried to contemplate her words. Finally, as the Geth was just outside the door, he nodded and let her go.

Sara jumped up and spun around just as the Trooper reached the doorway. It raised its gun immediately to her, as Sara was concentrating hard to build up her strength. Just as the trooper shot, Sara brought forth her Biotics into a shield that blocked all of the shots. Then she pushed the field forward, slamming into the Geth and tearing it in two.

Sara looked at the blue glow surrounding her hands in shock for just a moment, as if she didn’t think she could pull it off. 

“Since when do you know biotics?!”

“Later!” She shouted as the shots alerted more Geth. She moved to the doorway and, as Geth tried to enter it, she either used a biotic punch to destroy them or pushed them back and away. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to manage them.

“SAM I cannot keep this up for long, we need an exit!”

**“Unable to process.”**

“SAM?!” 

Sara vaguely noticed that Kallo had found a medical kit and had brought it to the children, who were huddled up and whimpering in fear as Sara fought back the Geth. She was tiring quickly, her biotics something she had never really embraced before, and she knew that even as the number of Geth trying to get in dwindled, she couldn’t continue this use of Biotics.

 **“The Geth are blocking all my systems.”** SAM’s voice was slightly broken up and strained, **“I can no longer access Citadel mapping.”**

“Work through their encryptions, we need--!” A hideous screaming, screeching sound came through the broken windows. Just as Sara was turning around, a strange humanoid creature launched itself through the window and into her. Sara was knocked down, all of the air rushing out of her at the impact, the creature clawing and tearing at her face and chest, screaming into her face. She was struggling to get it off of her as it slashed at her face; she was lucky her eyes were closed at that moment, as it dug into her left eye and tore down her face and to her ear, resulting in an anguished cry from her.

As quickly as it had come, the creature was stunned by some kind of shock. Sara used this moment to use a biotic fist on the creature, sending it flying back out the window. The ordeal had lasted less than five seconds.

Sara breathed heavily on the floor as blood dripped down her face and neck. She vaguely noticed Kallo standing in front of her, his Omni-Tool had shocked the creature enough to free her. He’d saved her life.

“Sara!” He had a look of horror on his face as he pulled her up, “Sara... your eye.”

“I-I’m okay.” She managed, keeping her hands off of the wound that was bleeding. She was shaking terribly; she couldn’t even open her left eye. “I’m okay. I’m okay.”

That hideous screeching from outside startled them both of them, prompting Sara to force herself to stand. Kallo supported her as she regained her balance; the room was spinning. Outside a Geth was making its way down the hall, dragging a woman kicking and screaming behind it. There’s was nothing Sara could do for her, they were gone.

“This isn’t defensible. We need a solid wall behind us, I can’t defend in two directions!”

“The bathroom.” Kallo told her immediately, only letting her go when he knew she was stable. Kallo went over to the kids and rounded them all up, getting the terrified children to move into the nearby bathroom. They all huddled in the shower stall as Sara went to one of the Geth she’d killed. She grabbed its rifle and some thermal clips and did her best to figure out how to reload it.

As she moved backwards, Kallo and one of the older children were pulling the couch in front of the bathroom door. Sara figured out the gun’s reload just in time, as more Geth started to move through the doorway. Sara vaulted over the couch and took aim; nothing happened.

“Dammit!” Sara ducked down and tried to work the safety.

“Your father teach you this stuff?” Kallo asked from the shower stall, where he was tending to the most injured child with the medical kit. 

“Kind of?! Never put it to use before!” She managed the gun and took aim again, shooting down the now four Geth who had entered the room. She looked incredulously at the gun, then at the downed Geth. “Holy shit.”

The screeching got louder, and a few of those strange humanoid creatures entered the room through the window. Sara refocused and shot, being very careful to time each and every one as to not run herself out of ammo, quickly getting used to only using one eye; thankfully it was her right eye, her stronger eye. Kallo focused on applying first aid to the children. 

Neither of them knew how long they were trapped in that bathroom, but for both it was far too long.

“SAM? Anything? SAM?!” SAM was silent, only static where his voice should have been. Sara was aware that he hadn’t been put to combat test before, and knew they had to manage without him. 

Some time passed, and Sara was running low on ammunition. She noticed herself starting to get just a little dizzy, running out of energy in every capacity. It was about that time that huge explosions resonated throughout the Citadel, and Sara looked out the window to see a giant ship being torn to pieces by the Alliance fleet near the Council building. As the ship fell to pieces, the nearby Geth began to retreat, and the screeching stopped. 

It was over.

Sara wasn’t ready to take chances. She moved back into the bathroom and leaned into the wall, breathing heavily. She quickly realized just how much blood covered her; gashes along her face, chest and arms were still bleeding, but none of them seemed to be too serious, aside from her eye. When at first it was a sharp pain it had dulled down to a painful throbbing. She sucked in precious air; she reminded herself that she had been in much worse pain before.

“Sara?” She opened her eye and found that Kallo had sat himself down in front of her, looking her over with deep concern. “Let me see.”

Kallo was covered in dirt and grime, blood all down his arm and across his shirt from helping the children. Still he looked over her injuries and applied medigel where he could, wrapping every cut he could. He put a patch over her eye and wrapped it into place, hoping to stop the bleeding in some measure. She imagined she probably looked just as filthy as he did.

“Are you okay Kallo?” She asked him. He looked shaken and scared as she felt, but still he worked on her wounds.

“Stopped the bleeding.” He motioned to his arm briefly, keeping his voice low so the resting children wouldn’t be alarmed. Sara looked around; in the corner of the bathroom Kallo had laid one of the children out with a blanket over them, away from the other children so they could continue to hide in the stall. The one child wasn’t moving. “I… couldn’t save her. Too much damage.”

“You did what you could Kal.”

“Sure doesn’t feel like it. I don’t think either of us are okay.”

“We’re alive at least.” She managed with as much of a smile as we could pull off. "Nine of ten is better than none."

“That’s thanks to you.”

“No, it’s thanks to us. We make a pretty kickass team.”

That coaxed a smile out of Kallo, who looked her in the eye as he wrapped the last wound. “Yeah. Yeah we did, didn’t we?” Kallo moved to sit down beside Sara. The two immediately took each other’s hands for the comfort it brought, allowing themselves to breathe. “So. Who’s SAM?” Kallo asked her to fill the silence, and she was all too happy to answer. 

“An AI, the one my father built. The project that got him kicked out of the Alliance. I never wanted to be connected to that, but my father made sure that I had access to SAM in case of an emergency. This is the first time I’ve ever had to call on him. You can imagine the damage if the public knew.”

“Yeah. I’m glad you had him though, we would have died otherwise.”

“Yeah.”

“And the biotics?”

Sara managed a choked laugh, shaking her head. “My brother is the biotic of the family. It derived from my mother’s pioneering work in Element Zero. The same shit that killed her.” Sara shrugged, “My brother trained to use his biotics, I never wanted that. But dad wanted us to know how to defend ourselves, so Scott taught me little things he’d learn, enough to control my limited biotics and defend myself should the need arise. Dad taught us how to shoot pistols when we were Eleven. I’ve never actually shot a rifle before. Never needed to use my biotics either. Guess panic is a great motivator.”

“You didn’t show any unease.” Kallo told her, squeezing her hand.

“Where’d you learn first aid?” She asked him.

“I didn’t learn much.” Kallo told her, “Just the basics. How to apply medigel, wrap a wound properly. I decided to learn the basics when I was training to become a Pilot. I figured it was better I knew emergency first aid, just in case.” He smiled, “That doesn’t really compare to your shooting though. I could train for a lifetime and never do what you did.”

“Hmm. Honestly Kal, I’d rather never shoot another gun in my life.” She glanced to him, “I’m a Mathematician, remember? Not a fighter.”

Kallo didn’t really have an answer for her, instead the two just hugged one another. Out of shot nerves, out of fear, out of grief, neither of them really knew which. All they knew was that it was comforting, calming, to have someone to lean on.

When they felt ready, the two gathered up the frightened children. Kallo carried one, Sara took the rifle, and the older kids helped the rest walk. As a unit they followed Sara out of the apartment and down the hall, out into the street to look for some kind of exit out of the Ward. Ten children entered that apartment, nine walked out alive.

Outside was like a warzone. It _was_ a warzone. Fire and debris littered the Ward, and the fake blue skies were blinking in and out wildly. Bodies were strewn wherever they walked, but it wasn’t random. They had been thrown into piles below hastily-constructed spikes. Huge spikes that towered over the group, and upon each spike was another body, completely impaled. Sara tried to get the children to look away, but the spikes were everywhere. There was no shielding them from this.

Eventually the children needed a break, so they stopped briefly to let them rest their weary limbs. Sara kept the rifle in hand, constantly scanning the debris for signs of life. There were none. Not even C-Sec had made it to this portion of the Ward yet. In a split-second decision, Kallo took out his Tool and began to record their surroundings; the eerie silence only made to increase their nervousness, but he could give this to C-Sec and hopefully assist their future investigation in some way.

“Barbaric.” Sara muttered beside him, shaking her head sadly. Both of their nerves were so shot they could do nothing but stare.

“That would have been us if you weren’t here.” Kallo reminded her, and himself.

“Hmm. A bad shot that got lucky. Right.” Kallo jumped when Sara began to shoot, and turned to see a Geth falling after Sara had shot it. He turned to her, briefly forgetting that he was even recording. She looked to him in a mixture of fear, exhaustion and defiance; her eye and parts of her face were beginning to bleed beneath the wrappings. “We need to go, Kal.”

“Right.” Kallo shut down his Tool again and gathered up the children, following Sara as they continued towards the Presidium.

They only ran across a few Geth, which Sara made quick work of. It took them about an hour of walking, climbing over and under debris and avoiding fires, to find another living person. A group of Turian volunteers were clearing debris from a collapsed building with no real rush to them, likely trying to recover the dead over anyone living. Upon sight of the group, the Turians dropped their task and ran to help the stumbling brood, bringing them and the children to a makeshift hospital some medics had set up in the upper wards.

Sara wanted to join the volunteers but Kallo was quick to talk her down, insisting that she accept the medical help. She wasn’t given much time to argue as she was quickly ushered into a room to have her eye checked out. A medic came and stitched up Kallo’s arm properly, setting it in a small sling for safety’s sake before moving on to the next injured patient. It left Kallo to wait there, surrounded by many homeless and injured, waiting for friends and loved ones to show up.

It was a good few hours before Sara emerged. She had been given fresh wraps over all of her cuts and gashes, and the entire left side of her face was covered in bandages and wraps. In the time it took, Kallo had managed to secure them some rations. C-Sec had come to talk to him, getting his statement and taking a copy of the video he’d recorded before moving on to the next. Sara barely made her presence known, instead surprising him by plopping down next to him without warning.

“Hey.” He smiled at her, and she managed a very exhausted smile back. She had been given a blanket to cover her bloodstained clothes. “How’s the eye?”

“They managed to save it.” Sara told him, and he breathed out a relieved sigh. “Said the wrapping could come off in a few weeks, I just may need to use an eye-patch for awhile, until it heals fully. They said it’ll scar really bad but that’s better than losing sight in one eye.”

“Absolutely.” Kallo agreed.

“I also spoke to C-Sec, gave them the statement they wanted. This will be a day for the history books.” She looked to his wound, “They set your arm?”

“Yes, doesn’t hurt so bad anymore. Nothing lodged in there, just grazed it.” She nodded, and with nothing else to do the two leaned into one another, arms around one another, finding comfort in the touch once again. It was all they needed in that moment. “I tried to get a message out to… well, anyone. Eveythings jammed.” Sara nodded, yawning heavily. 

“I’m going to go and help them search for survivors.” Sara told him, “Just… in a few minutes.” She took the rations Kallo offered her with a grateful smile, “Lets hope there’s people still alive out there, under the rubble.”

“With my arm as is I doubt I can lift much, but I’ll go with you.” Kallo nodded, “The Geth couldn’t separate us, I’m not letting search teams do it either. Not after all that.”

Sara sucked in a slow breath, taking in all of the poor people around them who were now homeless and injured. “Kal?”

“Yes?”

“You promise you’ll stay with me?”

Kallo smiled and hugged her a little tighter. This would take time to heal, for both of them. He knew that, and a large part of him was rather glad she asked. “Of course. A kickass team sticks together right?” He got her to laugh; that was enough.

Once they felt ready enough, the two went out and joined the search teams, combing through the Wards for those trapped or hiding under rubble. It was hours of grueling work, but they did manage to find many survivors. Many more had died, but those that lived marked great accomplishment; not all was lost out there. There were survivors. Sara in particular took to the heavy-lifting despite her injuries. It was all she could do after everything that had happened, the desperate need to find the survivors, to remind herself that despite what they’d seen, things would be alright. They had to be alright.

After hours of work, military personnel from all races began showing up for search and rescue. Volunteers who were uninjured stayed to help, but those with injuries, including Sara and Kallo, were ordered away from the damage to heal. With nothing else they could do to help they left the Citadel on refugee transit without much of anyone noticing their names or faces, beginning the long trek back to Sur’Kesh; back home.


	6. Two Years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara and Kallo have to return to normal life, despite everything they'd seen, to complete the Tempest under increasing pressure.

Word traveled fast through the Galaxy. Sara and Kallo were given stares of sympathy en route to Sur’Kesh; they were still filthy, bloody, bandaged, and everyone knew why. They weren’t the only injured trying to get home, in fact there were others who were just as banged up as they were. Only two people asked them about the Citadel; it was hard to tell them just how destroyed it was as they searched for information on their families.

It took a long time, but eventually they reached home. As they stepped off the transport they were surprised to find that their team was there, waiting for them or news of them.

Lucille gave them a very stern and concerned lecture that was a little hard to follow. Teon tried to make light, joking that Sara was turning to pirating to pay the bills. The two were exhausted though and it obviously showed, because Lucille ordered them home and told them that if they set foot in the Engineering wing for the next two days she’d kill them personally, then fire them.

Sara’s apartment was too quiet for her, even with the open window. She managed to replace her busted omni-tool and send a message to Scott and her father, with the simple message ‘I’m okay’. Then she silenced her Tool, having no desire to deal with questions, and took a shower. She took it slow and careful, just because the wrappings were waterproof did not mean she couldn’t screw up somehow, so she did her best without ruining them. 

She found her favorite pajamas and comfiest fluffy socks, turning the TV to a news channel. Of course, all news was on the Citadel, but part of her needed to listen. Sara took time to check over her bloodied clothing and determined that she wouldn’t be able to salvage them, throwing them away before she could think on them for too long.

As she was trying to settle down, someone knocked on her door. Sara went immediately, having a pretty clear idea of who was outside. She opened the door to a very tired Kallo, who was standing there was an apologetic smile on his face. He was in his own comfortable clothing, but seemed a little twitchy.

“I uh… brought tea?” He told her quietly, holding up a bag with herbs. Sara smiled and quickly let him in; they both needed the security of being with one another.

The news anchor was speaking as Kallo brought in two cups of tea. It wasn’t the knockout brew he’d made before (though he’d brought some just in case), instead it was a lighter tea that was actually helping both of them to relax. They made themselves comfortable on the couch to watch the TV. They both needed to know.

_“... Commander Shepard was hailed a hero as she hunted down the Geth leader; former Spectre Saren Arterius. Her ship, the SSV Normandy SR-1, assisted the Alliance military in destroying Saren’s flagship, ending the conflict. Humanity’s efforts to save the Citadel population has given them an official seat on the Galactic Council, Captain David Anderson joining the Council ranks as the first human councilor. Councilor Tevos has commended the Alliance military for their bravery in the face of adversity, and expressed her deepest sympathies for the massive losses humanity suffered to save the people. The total number of casualties in this attack is currently unknown.”_

“Geth.” Sara muttered, shaking her head. “AI always rubbed me the wrong way, but this…”

“There will be too many casualties to comprehend.”

“I’d rather not think about it.” Sara downed her tea like it was whiskey, “I hope those kids will be okay.”

“I’m sure they will. They seemed to be getting a lot of attention from the medics. We have to trust the system.”

Sara let out a long groaning sigh, pulling herself up and off the couch. “I think it’s time for some of that knockout brew of yours.”

“Agreed.”

As Kallo made the tea Sara got him a pillow and some blankets. She folded it all up on the edge of the couch for him to use. “I’ve got extra pillows if you need them, help yourself to the fridge.”

“You don’t have to do that for me.” Kallo told her, a wide eyed look on his face, as if he’d overstepped some kind of boundary. 

“What, did you think I’d kick you out?” She laughed, accepting the tea when he offered it to her. “After all that bullshit we both need companionship, I’m not going to play the tough guy act.”

“Shocking.”

Sara snorted out a laugh, downing her tea in record time. “You’re a sarcastic asshole sometimes, you know that?”

“I believe you humans say ‘birds of a feather flock together’?”

“Ass.” She laughed,

“And yet you still associate with me.”

“Shocking.” They laughed together, able to relax just a little, just enough.

It didn’t take long for Sara to pass out, leaving Kallo awake for a long time, the room lit dimly by the TV. He kept it quiet, but it wasn’t waking her up either, so he watched in the silence as he waited for sleep to take him. He could still see every moment of the Citadel attack in perfect detail, reliving it over and over, and eventually he had to force himself to find something else to focus on to keep himself from the fear and the madness. What he found, surprising as it was, was that Sara’s steady breaths and words spoken mid-sleep kept his mind occupied until he was able to drift off to sleep.

When he woke up sunlight was filtering in through the window and Sara was making breakfast. It was so mundane, both of them finally started to feel safe.

-

Sara very quickly decided that calling her father was the worst idea she’d had in a long time.

They hadn’t spoken since her mother died. She wasn’t too sure what she expected, but it was not the stern soldier presence; she’d hoped he’d outgrown it a little.

Scott was the exact opposite. He was extremely concerned and asked a lot of questions about her injuries, and nothing about the attack itself. She knew she could count on him.

“Does it hurt?” He asked her, noticeably bothered by the bandages. 

“Not really. That… thing sure tried but medics saved my eye.”

“What thing?” Alec asked in that stern, authoritative voice of his.

“Hell if I know.” She told him, “There were Geth and then there were these… I don’t know, they looked like humans but not? They were black and blue and glowing and looked like machines. And their screams were…”

“Don’t let yourself get stuck there.” He said to her, “You get lost in the ghosts you’ll never get out, you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” Alec nodded, “SAM and I discussed what happened. The pushback was unexpected but it shouldn’t happen again.”

 **“I have updated my encryption algorithms against other AI processors.”** SAM spoke up, **“The Geth attempted to shut down my programming. It will not happen again. This was an informative lesson.”**

“Informative doesn’t bring back the dead.” Sara sighed, “Let’s not forget that these were AI who started shooting people in cold blood.”

“And we’ve talked about this. The Geth had creators to revolt against. There’s a difference.”

“Dad, kindly shut up for two seconds. Sara almost died.”

There was silence for a few moments, “...Right. Of course.” He didn’t apologize, he never did. But he did sound rather sheepish and promptly changed the subject. “Listen, I got a call from Jein recently. She’s asked me to fill in the role as Pathfinder for the human Ark.”

“Pathfinder?” Sara’s brow furrowed, “The ship we’re building right now is meant for a Pathfinder. Initiative scouting?”

“It’s more than that.” He explained, “Pathfinders are the ones who would survey planets, create outposts in crisis situations, find recourses, initiate First Contact if necessary. I accepted the role.”

“You… what?” Scott was dumbfounded, “You’re going with them? To Andromeda?”

“I think my name has done enough damage here.” He hesitated a moment, as if trying to gather his thoughts, “There’s room, if you two would like to join me. You’d become part of the Pathfinder team, working with me in the cluster to find all those people a home.”

“Leave the Milky Way? Over 600 years in Stasis with no way home?”

“Just a suggestion.” Sara put her head into her hands, having little desire to discuss such giant news.

“That’s insane.” She muttered.

“Ah, you know me. Always taking the leap.” Alec seemed visibly uncomfortable, shifting in his seat. “I, uh-- have some meetings to get to. Get your rest Sara.”

Sara groaned aloud when Alec pulled himself out of the call. Scott shook his head, seemingly staring off into space. “Ass.” He muttered. 

“Yeah, what’s new?”

“Andromeda. A new galaxy, did he never even consider…?” Scott sighed and leaned back in his chair, scrubbing at his face.

“...Scotty. He’s right about one thing.” Scott leaned forward again to give her his full attention, “His name has done a lot of damage. To his life and… to ours.”

Scott was silent for a long minute, squinting hard at his sister. “You are not considering going to Andromeda.” When Sara didn’t answer him, his eyes began to widen. “You _are_ considering going to Andromeda.”

“I’m not considering anything. I’m just saying, with Ryder attached to us it closes a lot more doors than it opens. Maybe he has the right idea. A new start.” She shrugged, “Or maybe I’m just having survival nerves.”

Scott hummed. Sara could read him like a book where the rest of the Galaxy could not; she caught the small glint in his eyes. He was thinking about it.

“Go get some sleep Skater.” He told her, and she left the subject alone. He needed to stew on the subject.

“You too Scotty.”

-

As Kallo and Sara found their footing again and got back to work on the Tempest, it seemed that everything had changed.

The Science and Engineering wings had stepped into double shifts and insane overtime. There was a sudden rush to everything they were doing, a push to get projects done, something that was hard for them to figure out at first.

“News came down the line.” Lucille explained, “The Initiative is accelerating its timeframe. It’s projected to leave, ideally, within the next two years.”

“Two years?” Sara was gobsmacked, with Kallo equally as confused, “That’s insane. The Scout division is barely in blueprints, and Bravo division hasn’t even started conceptualisation.”

“This is the timeframe we have to work with.” She shrugged, seemingly just as frazzled as everyone else. “That means we’re working overtime, no excuses.”

“The Initiative is going nuts!” O’Connell called from across the room, “I’ll bet their Arks don’t make it half way!”

“Are you trying to jinx the project?”

“I’m just saying--”

“Alright, man up!” Lucille interrupted with a small smile she was trying to hide, “We’ve got a job to do, we’re not letting the Science Wing have all the fun.” 

And so they did double and triple shifts, days and nights spent trying to figure out how to make the Tempest work. To Sara, it felt like the single month was just a few minutes long. And through it all, she had to make time to look at her eye, to try and regain her sight.

Granted, she still couldn’t see a thing out of her left eye, but by the end of that month she was at least able to get the bandages off. It was obvious it needed more time to heal, but she could handle an eyepatch. Dr. Elon checked over her eye carefully. She had some pretty ugly scars all around her eye, but he told her the eye itself would heal. Eventually.

“How are you feeling?” He asked her.

“Stressed. Overworked.”

“You and most others around here. How’s your symptoms?”

“Normal. More nightmares than normal but nothing I can’t handle.”

“Stress related, have you tried medications for it?”

“Doesn’t help me sleep. Just makes the nightmares worse.”

“I see.” Elon placed a simple patch over her eye. Much of the scars showed, but the patch was something she could very easily get used to. With so much work to do, she knew she probably wouldn’t even think about it.

Elon began writing up a new prescription for her. “Doctor… Could someone in my condition make the journey to Andromeda?”

Elon stopped his writing and raised a brow, giving her his full attention. “I… suppose so.” He sat down across from her, “I’ll be honest with you Sara, there’s no way to really know. GH-1033 hasn’t been studied enough. I can assume that stasis would have little to no effect but there is no guarantee of that. Are you considering it?”

“I… think so.” Sara sighed, scrubbing at her good eye, “It’ll be hard to find any work after this. With my family name I’d never find anything solid. But Andromeda, the Initiative… it’s a new start. They’ve already given my father the role of Pathfinder, it’s obvious they don’t give a shit about our name.”

“It’s a long jump.” He shrugged, “A new Galaxy, no way home. But it is a fresh start, a place your talents would be recognized. I think you need to ask yourself what matters more to you.”

“What matters goes beyond a job. But maybe that also extends to Andromeda.”

Elon smiled at her, “You think on it. It would require a medical pass, but if you apply for one I’d be happy to provide the medical recommendation. Everyone deserves a chance.” He handed her her new batch of medications. “No water under that patch, we’ll check the eye another month from now.”

Sara grinned at him, “Thank you doctor, I appreciate that.”

-

As Sara was walking into work, there was a buzz around everyone. People whispering and watching the news, rumors flying around too quickly for her to catch. It had only been a month since the Citadel; what could have possibly happened now?

She walked into her office to find the team huddled around Teon’s computer, watching the screen with shocked faces.

“Sara! Come see, quickly!” Sorenna waved her over with a rush. Sara dropped her bag at her desk and shuffled in between her and Kallo to watch the screen.

_“The SSV Normandy has been destroyed by an unknown assailant. Alliance Military correspondents have confirmed that Commander Shepard is Missing in Action, and has presumably died in the crash. The total number of casualties from the Normandy is still being tallied. Commander Shepard is best known for her efforts against the Geth in the battle of the Citadel one month ago--”_

“Geez.” O’Connell shook his head, straightening. “Amazing how quickly heroes can become victims.”

“I’m surprised anyone would attack the Normandy, with it now being famous and all.”

“Didn’t the Normandy have that new state-of-the-art stealth drive? How were they detected at all?”

Sara saw Kallo stiffen next to her as the rest were chatting away, staring off into space. She saw his eyes narrow in deep concentration, practically watching the wheels turning in his head. She could see the moment the idea came into his mind.

“Stealth. That’s it.” Everyone stopped as Kallo quickly moved to his own desk and computer, typing very quickly. “Why didn’t we think of this before?” He pulled up blueprints of Salarian ships as everyone came to huddle around his desk. 

“Think of what?”

“The answer to the problem!” He leaned back after finding the blueprint he wanted, one of a Salarian dreadnaught. “The SSV Normandy SR-1 was built with a stealth drive powered by an experimental drive core. This was a design mesh between Human and Turian engineering. Not long after, STG got their hands on the stealthing mechanics and applied it to Salarian dreadnaughts. We don’t need guns on the Tempest!”

“We can use stealth drives, that’s genius!”

“We’ll need to update it ourselves, of course.” Kallo squinted at the screen, “Something more robust to accommodate for Andromeda unknowns, and to make sure we’re not a repeat of the Normandy, but if we can acquire the blueprints we can start construction.”

“And meet that two year timeframe.” Sara nodded, “It’s our best shot.”

“Our only shot. I’ll put in a request to Initiative HQ, see if they can work out an informational trade with the Alliance or the Turian Hierarchy.” Lucille grinned and practically ran back to her desk. With renewed energy and purpose everyone else got back to work; Sara began to revise her speed calculations for stealthing variables. It felt good for all of them to finally have a concrete starting line.


	7. Jump

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chance to join the Initiative forces Sara to stop running from her own truths.

As it turned out, the Initiative opened doors. A lot of doors, making the task of getting those special stealthing mechanics significantly easier on all of them.

O’Connell and Teon poured over the blueprints, and with Kallo’s insight they began updating it to conceal more than just their drive core emissions. Anything they came up with they passed along to Sara; she ran calculations and computerized tests on each and every component to make sure their changes were viable. When she had parameters for them they added more, a solid back and forth that was keeping them all on their toes.

At the same time, Lucille was finalizing their blueprints. Sorenna had created a computerized model of the ship and was running tests to make sure the small ship could handle the amount of energy needed to power all of the research stations and the drive core. Lucille was securing the nuts and bolts of the operation, the metal plating and the mechanisms needed to make the ship a reality.

With the plating came new calculations for Sara to run, but she managed to push their speeds up considerably. Despite odds and with Lucille’s insight, she was able to give them the numbers necessary for the ship to do thirteen light years per day; no ship in this class had ever been faster.

Sara was able to lose the eye patch just in time for the plate testing. She noticed people looking at the scars but it became easier to ignore them after awhile. Her team all gathered together with other Engineers in one of their testing chambers; here they tested metal plating and design against all kinds of hazards, from atmospheric pressures to vacuum conditions. They had to refine some of the design to match their thirteen light years speed, but eventually they found a sleek design that could handle space and entering and exiting all forms of atmospheric temperature. All of the late nights and triple shifts were finally starting to pay off.

And perhaps it was made perfect when Lucille walked in late one night with a bottle of Thessia red, dragging them all out and to the commons area; it seemed she and the Officers had invited the entire Engineering wing for one night of food and drinks, to mingle and relieve some small amount of the stress they’d all been placed under. 

There were definitely some people getting drunk off their ass, and Sara didn’t blame them. Many of the tables were being used for card games; it seemed Poker was among the more popular games played. A mixture of music from all cultures played in the background as people enjoyed the night air and the company of one another.

Sara took a seat with Lucille; she was watching with a glass of wine, sipping but obviously controlling herself. Nearby Sorenna and O’Connell were absolutely getting drunk, Teon was egging them on and Kallo was doing his best to appear to be staying out of it.

“I hear your father accepted a Pathfinder position.”

Sara glanced at Lucille, “You’d be the first.”

“News travels. I don’t think the others know yet.”

“I haven’t told anyone.” She shrugged, “It was his choice.”

“... Are you going with him?”

Sara gave her a strange look, one that Lucille couldn’t seem to place, “What, to Andromeda?”

“Why not? It’s the opportunity of a lifetime.”

“... I’ve been thinking about it.” Sara admitted.

“If there were no barriers, would you go?”

“Yeah. I think I would.”

Lucille took another sip, swirling the wine in her glass for a few moments. “So what’s stopping you?”

Sara thought about that. Sure there was the obvious reason, the real reason that stopped her from committing. But what underlied that, what truly made her fear, was far more simple.

“Not being good enough.” She told Lucille, “I wouldn’t be an asset.”

“Oh shut up Sara, you’re one of the most intelligent people in this department and you know it.” 

“In the shadow of my father, good with numbers isn’t good enough.”

“And you are not your father.” Lucille pat her shoulder, “The Initiative needs minds of your caliber. Maybe instead of running from whatever it is you’re running from, it’s time you faced it. You don’t get to move forward in life without coming face to face with fear, that’s how you know you’re progressing.” Lucille finished her glass, “You have talent, and a hell of a lot of skill. The last thing you should be doing is discounting that. You wouldn’t be here otherwise. And if you do decide to go, you’ll have our support.”

Sara smiled, just a little, “Thanks Luci.”

“Anytime.”

“Saaaaaarrrrrraaaaaaa~” Sorenna slumped over her shoulders, drunk off her ass. “C’mon, looooossen up. You need a drink. Ooor ten.”

“The last thing I am going to do is drink.” She laughed, patting Sorenna’s head. “You’re drunk Sora.”

“I am not druunk!” She managed, “I am _tiiipsy_. Different.” 

“Uh-huh.”

Lucille laughed as O’Connell fell flat on his face nearby, “Come on, lets help them home, shall we?”

Sara snorted, “Figure I should get hazard pay at this rate.” She said, standing and looping Sorenna’s arm over her shoulders. 

“Ha! You wish.”

-

Scott scratched furiously at his scalp, his hair ruffling up enough to make Sara giggle. She could see right through his attempts to seem upset.

“Andromeda. You’re going with dad to Andromeda.”

“If my medical pass is accepted,” Sara shrugged, “then yes. I sent it in this morning.”

“Why? You of all people?” Scott was dumbfounded.

“Why not?” He groaned loudly at the answer, “Scott listen. What chances do we have here? Dad has ruined our family name here in the Milky Way. Finding any kind of success… the cards are stacked against us. But the Initiative has already given him the Pathfinder role. Our family name will be relatively accepted. It’s a new start, a place where we’ll have a much better chance at making a name for ourselves.”

“Dad would want us as part of the Pathfinder team. Or me, anyway.”

“That’s not forever. It could easily be temporary. The point is, we’ll have far greater chances in Andromeda than we will here. What’s the goddamn point in staying here anyway?”

“It’s…” Scott thought on that for a long moment, “home?”

“Home? Not with mom gone it’s not. Think about it Scotty, with your hard work ethic and skills in protection, combat, strategy, there’s a lot of people who would need those skills in Andromeda. Building colonies in strange lands. What about the chance of hostile threats? Your working aptitude would be a major asset, on dad’s team or otherwise.” He listened to her silently, obviously starting to really consider it. “What’s stopping you from considering this Scotty?”

“Dad, mostly.”

“This is about our futures, not dad’s.” Sara folded her hands, “I’m going to be selfish: I don’t want to leave you behind. I want both of us to have the chance to see amazing things, and do amazing things. To do meaningful things for people and to help people. A whole Galaxy of worlds no other human has ever seen before, stars where we can name our own constellations. It’s the chance of a lifetime. We’ll never get another one.”

“... And we’d stay together?”

“Through every moment.” She promised. “I can’t do this without my other half.”

Scott sighed heavily, slowly, his eyes focused on a middle ground, deep in thought. “Well you’re right about one thing. As much as I don’t want to admit it… there aren’t any more real chances here.” Sara held her breath, her eyes widening, “ _If_ you get that medical pass, I’ll… tell dad to sign me on.”

“YES!” Sara jumped out of her chair with glee, “This will be amazing Scott, you’ll see!”

“Tell me that when we get there.” He couldn’t help but grin at his sister’s excitement. “You call me once you get word back, you hear me?”

“Absolutely, I promise.”

“Good. I’ll hold you to this.”

“Believe me, I’m holding myself to this.” Scott laughed aloud, and that was all she needed.

-

Sara received the shock of her life a few weeks later, in the middle of the work day, when she was called to the Operations center.

“Why do they want me, exactly?”

“I’m not sure.” Deena was on the other end of the line, “They just said it’s urgent and to please report immediately. Didn’t sound like something bad was happening.”

“Alright… thanks Deena. I’ll be right there.”

As she turned off her Tool, Lucille waved her out without looking from her blueprints, “Go on.” So Sara hurried for the Operations center. Deena was waiting for her in the lobby, and led her down several quiet hallways with many offices and a few communications centers.

Deena led her to a larger office towards the top of the center and knocked. A woman’s voice, one Sara distinctly recognized, called them in.

“Ah, Sara! Good to see you!”

“Ms. Garson?” Jien had a wide smile on her face as the Turian she had been meeting with left. 

“Thank you Deena, that’ll be all.” Deena shut the door behind her, leaving the two woman in the quiet. Jien shook Sara’s hand readily, “It’s been a long time.”

“Yes… I wasn’t aware you had an office here?”

“Oh, I don’t.” Jien moved to the desk, offering Sara a chair. She took it as Jien sat down across from her, folding her hands. “I’m just borrowing this space for my visit here, checking in on the progress. I hear the Tempest is coming along nicely.”

“It is! The ship will be beautiful. You won’t be disappointed ma’am.”

“I had no doubts. Lucille was always one to get things done, and we assembled the best. But, that’s not why I’ve called you here.”

“Is something wrong?”

“Not particularly.” Jien leaned back in her chair, her face turning much more serious than it had been, “I spoke with your father recently. You know he and I go back a ways, right?”

“He mentioned it.”

“Well, you may not know that I check over all medical pass requests personally. I noticed your request, you want to join the leap to Andromeda?”

“Yes ma’am. With my family.”

“I see.” Jein’s fingers were tapping together in a steady, quiet rhythm. “Alec recommended you. Said you’d be able to handle the jump. I looked into GH-1033 but I’ll admit, what I found was very vague.”

“Ah.” Sara nodded and sighed, “That’s because GH-1033 is so rare. There’s really not been any scientific study put into it.”

“You still think you can make the 600 year jump in stasis?”

“I think so. Everyone I’ve spoken to believes that stasis will have little to no effect on the illness itself. And the medication, I’ll pack fifteen years worth in my luggage if I have to. Whatever it takes.”

“Fifteen years is your life expectancy?”

“More or less.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. I’d just like to go to Andromeda before my time ends.”

“I understand.” Jien nodded firmly, “You wouldn’t need a hospital, just check ups with whatever doctors are there?”

“As far as I’m aware.”

“Hmm…” Jien stood out of her chair and went to the window, pacing just a little. It was clear that staying in one place was not suited to her. “I will be frank, Sara. We need geniuses like you. We need your mind, your expertise. We have a lot of Engineers, but I don’t need just another Engineer, or just another person good with the numbers. I need a dreamer. I need someone who can look at the numbers and find the best, usually unconventional solution without the red tape; creating a scout ship faster than any before it is a prime example of that. That ingenuity is especially necessary on the Pathfinder ships, where anything could happen at any moment. I just worry that that will put too much stress on you and further provoke your illness.”

“I don’t think you need to worry about that ma’am. I’ve been through a lot of stress and hard work to get here. Hard work is part of the reason I’m still standing at all. It won't be a problem… and I’m sure that fifteen years after our arrival, we’ll have enough infrastructure going that you won't need my mind anymore.”

“It sounds so insensitive. I hate to agree with you.”

Sara chuckled, “When you live your life knowing you have a solid expiration date, you learn not to take offense to insensitivities. It’s a fact of life. All I want is to spend that time to the fullest, and that means Andromeda. That means taking the risk, I don’t care if it accelerates my illness.”

Jien looked at her a moment, a smile coming to her face. “You are so much like your father. Same drive, same passion.” She told her, “Here’s the deal then. We’ll accept your pass and bring all the required medications to Andromeda. There may be cases of GH-1033 we won’t know about, like it or not things slip through the cracks. In return you’ll serve on one of the Pathfinder ships, the Tempest or otherwise, as their Engineer. In this time you’ll field questions and feed advice back to the Nexus teams; you’ll work in direct contact with Superintendent Kesh. She is a Krogan, I’m sure that won’t be an issue?”

“Not at all ma’am.”

“Good. You help our teams, you’re in. Deal?”

Sara smiled so wide Jein actually chuckled, “I accept ma’am! As… long as my family is there. You will accept my brother, right?”

“Your father wants him on the Pathfinder team. He’s in too.”

Sara shot up out of her seat and shook Jien’s hand. “You want my mind, you got my mind. Thank you ma’am, I won't let you down.”

She grinned back at Sara, “I know you won't. We’ll assign you to the Hyperion to start with, to assist their smaller Engineering teams and your father. Once the Hyperion reaches the Nexus, you’ll work with Kesh.” Jien grabbed a special Initiative passport off of her desk, signed it, and handed it to Sara. “Welcome aboard, Ms. Ryder.” Sara looked to it with amazement, “Now, go finish the Tempest. Can’t give the Pathfinders anything less than the best.”

“Yes ma’am. Thank you ma’am!” 

To her team’s shock, Sara came bounding into the Engineering wing and bursting through the doors. “Guess who’s headed to Andromeda!” The moment with them, surrounded by their shock, excitement and questions, made it completely worth it.

-

“You never told me you were thinking about Andromeda.” Kallo told her, sipping his tea, “Or the fact that your father was Pathfinder. Why didn’t you say anything?”

Sara shrugged, sitting in her window with her own cup, “Dad didn’t tell us until he’d already accepted. Jien said I was just like him.”

“Passion runs in the family huh?” Sara groaned loudly, exaggerating it just to get Kallo to laugh.

“Dear god, don’t let my legacy be ‘Passionate like her father was’.”

“Alright then, how about ‘Passionate like her mother was’?”

“Oh that’s much better, thank you.”

He chuckled and shook his head, munching on a snack he’d brought with him. He was quiet for a minute as Sara started out the window. “You didn’t answer my question.” She was quiet, “It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me. Just curious; we Salarians are nothing if not suspicious.”

Sara didn’t answer him at first. She wondered if she should, if she should actually let someone in on her world. If she could allow herself to tell someone, even a friend, her greatest secret, and her greatest weakness.

At the same time, she wondered why not. She knew Kallo. He wouldn’t use it against her, he wasn’t like that. Lucille’s words stuck with her, she needed to stop running.

“I didn’t think they’d let me go. I had to wait for my medical pass to be approved.”

She knew he’d heard her. He stared at her for a moment, completely silent, thinking over her response. “Medical pass? What for?”

Sara took a long breath, letting it out just as slowly. It was time. She needed to tell someone. “I’m sick, Kal.” She admitted quietly, “I’m dying.”

A rather profound silence fell over them. Kallo’s eyes grew wide as he was unsure of how he could possibly respond to that. 

“...I think you’re going to need to repeat that Sara, because you didn’t mean what I think you meant.”

An embarrassed smile crossed her face. She found it hard to look at him, but she managed. “I wish that were the case.”

“Seriously, what do you mean by ‘dying’?”

“I’m dying.” She said plainly, “Not tomorrow. Not anytime soon, but it’s happening. GH-1033.”

“What’s that?”

Sara nodded, a little too quickly than she normally would, “I figured you’d never heard of it before.” She adjusted her position and took a sip of her tea. “GH-1033 is a genetic regressive disorder. Stages One through Four are fairly straightforward. Pain in the joints and muscles, fatigue, spontaneous energy loss, the shaking, headaches; all of which grow more intense as you go through the Stages. Some people experience memory lapses in this time, I’ve only been through one of those. Stages Five and Six are when the regressive symptoms set in. It starts in more frequent memory lapses, sometimes temporary amnesia. There’s loss in muscle function to start, followed by a decrease in mental capacity. Eventually the internal organs begin to degrade; the body loses all function from the inside out.”

“And... that’s why it’s terminal?”

“Yeah. The organs stop, the heart stops. There’s no cure for it, nothing stops it from happening. A hospital could keep a patient alive for awhile once that starts but that just means being hooked up to a life support machine, which isn’t living. Scott knows that’s the last thing I want.”

“...Damn.”

“Sorry Kal. You can see why I didn’t tell anyone.”

“Yeah yeah, I just… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”

“No, I’m glad you did. I need to stop running from this.” She shrugged, “I mean I don’t want the whole world to know, the less that know the better, but I need to stop running away from the answer too.”

Kallo took a deep breath, putting his tea aside and turning fully to her. “Then let me ask why you don’t want people to know.”

Sara snorted and threw a thumb over her shoulder, to the pictures of her dancing on the wall. “You probably don’t realize how hard I’ve worked to get here.” She told him, “I spent two years of my childhood in a hospital bed, looking out the window and wondering what was out there. I went through physical therapy, arrays of medications and examinations and tests just to get back on my feet. I got myself to school, got myself back into dancing because I needed to. So many people with GH-1033 just lie down, give up. They stay in one spot and never do anything with their lives, then they die and… that’s it. I don’t want that. I want my life to mean something, even if it’s short. I refuse to be a damn victim. But of course, you tell someone you’re dying and they immediately give you the pity stares, ‘don’t strain yourself just sit there’. Just because I need help sometimes doesn’t mean I need help all the time. I can deal. I can live. And when I can’t, I work at the problem until I can. There’s a reason I take medications every day, why I see doctors and push through the nightmares and go to the Gym at least three times a week. I’m not here to be doll. So I’m sure you can understand why I don’t talk about this.” Her lips pressed tight, “I’ve never really been one to talk about it. When people start calling you a prodigy, pushing you through school faster than your peers, grooming you like you’re about to solve galactic hunger, it’s… well. You learn to shut up. No complaints, just do the work. I’m here to do the work, and that work helps people. That’s all that matters to me.” 

“And that means Andromeda?”

“More personal ambition, I guess.” She smiled, “The chance to see things no one else has seen before? New worlds, possibly new cultures? I can’t pass that up.”

Kallo nodded, seemingly concerned and understanding at the same time. “I’m surprised they’d let you in on the Initiative in such a condition.”

“Ha.” She deadpanned, “They want my mind. Jien wants me on the Engineering front, my father wants me in Andromeda. I made an agreement to help their Engineers and Mathematicians directly in exchange for a medical pass. Hard work, but good work.”

“I see. How… how long do you have?” He asked her. 

“At the moment I’m classified as Stage Three. I was given fifteen years, give or take. That’s now assuming Stasis won't have an effect on me.”

“About the lifespan of Salarians then. Makes sense that you’re comfortable here.”

She grinned, “Yeah. It’s nice to be surrounded by people who move through life as quickly as I do. No risk of leaving people in the dust.”

“If it’s any consolation, I understand how you feel. Wanting to add something to the world in the short time you're given… I understand that very well. Especially being surrounded by beings that live for a thousand odd years.”

“Least we’ll never be bored.” That coaxed laughter out of both of them, lighter than what she’d expected. It was surprisingly easy to tell him, now that she’d said the words… she felt better.

“I won’t tell the others.” Kallo promised, “If you don’t want anyone else to know then not a word is leaving me.”

“Thanks Kal.”

“Thank you for telling me. A lot about you suddenly makes sense.” Sara barked out a laugh.

“Right, because I’m some big mystery.”

“You’d be surprised.” She glared at him, but it was obviously all in good fun, only making him laugh more.

She did, well and truly, feel better.


	8. Determination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Tempest becomes a reality, even when one of the Team is injured beyond true repair.

Construction had begun.

It was about damn time, so far as they were concerned. After so many months of trying to figure out how to make this ship work, of testing and ideas and all manners of issues, they were finally starting the building of the Tempest. There were times that Kallo disappeared for a few days with Teon or Lucille in tow, trying to find the materials to build the Tempest correctly. They always came back with new and advanced parts for the Tempest; Sara never asked how they got them.

Several Engineering teams were assigned to assist them, but each of the core gave their own personal assistance. Lucille was most often keeping people coordinated and on schedule. Sara helped them, especially with much of the lifting of supplies and welding, when she wasn’t running calculations. Sorenna and O’Connell were starting to build the internal system programming, while Teon and Kallo could often be found helping Lucille. It was a steady workflow that was very much welcomed after so long without. It wasn’t long before the bare bones framework was in place.

It was amazing how quickly things could go wrong.

Sara felt good after a hard morning workout at the Gym, with a shower at her apartment and packing a lunch before work. It was a bright day, sunny and warm, and she was ready to start adding in the external plating on the Tempest.

Her omni-tool began to beep, and she realized she was slightly late. She figured it was Lucille and answered as she was packing. “This is Sara.”

“Hey.” Kallo was on the other end of the line, to her surprise, “I just walked into the office, figured you’d be here.”

“Running late, sorry. Gym day.”

“Well I’ve got news, that’s why I rushed in.” She noticed then the tenseness in his voice and stopped, focusing on her Tool. “Lucille was working late last night, alone in the hangar. There was… an accident.”

“An accident? Is Luci okay?”

“She broke her back.” Kallo told her, “It took an hour for anyone to find her. She’s in the hospital.”

“Oh god…” Sara moved to sit down in a nearby chair, “Will she make it?”

“Sorenna went to see her. Lucille’s husband says she’ll pull through, but she’s been paralyzed from the waist down.”

“Poor Luci.”

“Sorenna says she wants to talk to us, I’m headed for the trams if you can come.”

“I’ll meet you there.”

-

“I can't believe this.”

Lucille was restless, fidgeting in the hospital bed. The team had tried to calm her down and get her to stop squirming, but she would not be deterred. She was miserable.

“At least you're alive.”

“Yeah. Woohoo.” She deadpanned, obviously annoyed. “Who do they think they are, keeping me here like this?”

“Doctors that saved your life.” Sara grinned, “So listen to them for awhile.”

She groaned aloud, setting off a chain reaction of laughter throughout the room. “Well, my blueprints are on my desk. You guys can continue the work, but I’m implementing a buddy system as of now. No one stays in the hangar alone, I’ve already sent word to the rest of Engineering. We’re not having a repeat of my stupidity, even if they are fixing the faulty storage lines.”

“We’ll have something for you by the time you’re back.” O’Connell promised for them all.

“I’ll hold you to that. Damn back isn’t going to stop this ship from getting built. Send me updates?”

“You know it.”

-

Lucille received a lot of video’s in the following weeks from the entire team. Progress on the ship, shenanigans, and laughs that made her smile. 

One was a video of Sara scaling the bones of the Tempest, before they’d gotten all the plating on. Sorenna was yelling at her to be careful as she walked casually along the top of the beams to retrieve some tools accidentally left there by the previous team, seeming to have no care of the height or danger of falling.

Another video was of Sara, O’Connell and Teon; they were all listening to music in their office and, in the middle of working, they broke out dancing. They laughed and spun and eventually pulled Sorenna in on the dancing. Kallo giggled as he filmed them.

Another video was sent when they added the final plating onto the Tempest; the outside was done, minus the paint, and it was nearly ready for internal decks and systems. Lucille wouldn’t admit it, but she almost cried; it matched her blueprints exactly.

One of the last videos was of Teon, who was nearly screaming with excitement. They’d been given access to the ODSY Drive Core designs used on the Arks and the Nexus; cutting-edge technology, giving the Tempest just the edge it needed. Not only was it now the fastest ship in its class, it was the stealthiest. So stealthy in fact that Lucille received news from the Council themselves; the Tempest was given a special permit and could only be put to use in Andromeda in service of the Initiative. The ODSY drive, coupled with their stealth systems, were considered too dangerous for commercial use. She wasn’t sure whether or not she should be proud or concerned, or perhaps both.

It was a great day when Lucille finally got back to work, wheelchair and all. She very quickly got used to the chair and fell right back into the Team’s rhythm, overseeing design and updating her blueprints where needed. When she wasn’t overseeing the Tempest, she was working on a personal project that she wasn’t letting anyone else in on.

The Tempest was coming along nicely; the decks and ODSY drive had been installed in the ship, and they’d started adding in their science and research stations, adding in all the terminals necessary. It lended for a fantastic prank, masterminded by Kallo, Sara and Teon; they had Sara hack into O’Connell and Sorenna’s programs and had her direct errors to various panels for awhile. This ‘error’ in their systems was really just a stupid song provided by Teon, which began to blast throughout the Tempest once they ‘fixed’ the error. 

One day, Lucille unveiled her personal project; she had converted a construction mech into a rig she could wear. Soon enough she was helping in the Tempest construction again, wearing the rig to move around without real issue. Sara couldn’t help but admire her strength and determination. 

The time flew by and before they knew it, the paint was being put on the Tempest. It suddenly felt so much more real.

-

“So this is what you do in your down time?”

Sara grunted, “Yeah. It helps keep GH-1033 under control.”

“Doesn’t seem very relaxing.”

“Relaxing is in the eyes of the beholder it seems.” Kallo chuckled, shaking his head.

Kallo had shocked Sara that morning. They actually had a rare day off, and Sara had planned to use it as a Gym day. Kallo had tagged along; it was clear he had something on his mind and was either trying to work up a way to say the words or he was trying to forget them. So he went with her to the Gym, and stayed there as she went through her workouts.

Sara continued boxing, her final workout for the day and easily her favorite. Kallo hadn’t spoken about whatever was bothering him yet, instead made idle conversation as she was working out. 

“You could be relaxing too.” Sara told him between punches, “Don’t have to watch me sweat.”

“The view’s quite nice, actually.” He shot back with a smirk.

“Pffft.”

“Didn’t have anything better to do anyway.”

“Oh great, that’s much better. Thank you.” He laughed at her face, stuck between a scowl and the effort necessary to continue her workout. 

As she was nearly done, he swallowed hard with the words. “I… got a call last night.”

“Yeah?”

“From Jien Garson.”

Sara threw her last few punches, ending with a strong kick, the punching bag swinging back and forth on the chain. She looked at him then, beginning to unstrap the boxing gloves. “Really? What did she want?”

“She wanted me as a full-time pilot. For the Initiative.”

After hearing that startling news, Sara rushed to shower and change her clothes to hear the rest. The two walked to grab some lunch, making their way to the small recreational park on the outskirts of the facility as Kallo tried to build up his words. He seemed to be having trouble on how to actually talk about it, so Sara let him take his time.

“They like the Tempest, but they need someone to pilot her.” Kallo told her after awhile, “Jien contacted me, asked if I was interesting in joining the jump to Andromeda. They want me to fly one of the Pathfinders through Heleus.”

“That’s fantastic, they realize your potential.”

“Maybe.” The two found a place to sit and eat on the edge of the fountain. It was a bright day with only hints of clouds. “It’s a big jump.”

“It is.” Sara nodded, “So? Do you want to go?”

“I’m… not sure.” He sighed, seemingly losing his appetite. “I’ve been thinking about it ever since you told me you were going, but I… never took my own thoughts seriously. I thought it was impossible.” She listened quietly, letting Kallo talk out his thought processes, knowing it would help him most. “It occurred to me months ago… we’ve poured our hearts into a ship that we, or I guess I, will never see. I’ll never know if it really worked, I’ll never see its true potential. And that… I don’t know. I’ve put everything I have into the Tempest.”

“Hmm. Lucille asked me something that I’ll ask you: What’s stopping you?”

Kallo thought about that for a long minute, taking a bite of his lunch absently. Sara let him take his time to pull his thoughts together.

“I don’t know.” He admitted, “I have family here but I’ve never been close to them. If I stay I’d return to test piloting but… I wonder if that’s what I want to do for the rest of my life. Salarian lives are short, and I want to do more with my pilot’s licence than just test other people’s ships. The Tempest is… my ship. Our ship.”

“Sounds to me like you’ve already made up your mind.” She told him with a soft smile, patting his forearm, “You just haven’t admitted it to yourself yet.”

Kallo took a long breath, closing his eyes. He didn’t know if she was right or not, but it got him thinking nonetheless. “... Wouldn’t it be amazing if we were both assigned to the Tempest?”

“I’d hope so! What would a girl do without the best damn pilot in the Milky Way, huh?” She grinned that lopsided grin that she wore so well.

“The best pilot? Really, you’re going to make that joke?” He asked in a deadpan.

“An ace pilot with his ace best friend. We’re like a walking sitcom!” She laughed when he shoved her, righting herself with defiance, “Hey you started it, I was just following through.”

“That’s terrible. You’re terrible.”

“You love me and you know it.”

“I wonder sometimes.”

Sara clutched her chest like she’d been shot. He threw a smirk at her, “Ouch! Right through the heart, you bastard.”

“Don’t you mean ‘sarcastic asshole’?”

“You are such a cloaca Kal.”

“Hey, you’re learning!” He laughed and clapped his hands lightly, and she shoved him right back. Then she stood, gathering up her lunch with a fake huff. 

“C’mon, I’m not wasting a wonderful day like this and you’re coming with me.” Kallo chuckled and stood immediately, knowing better than to argue with her. What better way to spend the day than with his best friend?

-

The day had arrived. The Tempest’s real stress test through the Nemean Abyss. The team held their breath; this had to work.

The Nemean Abyss was notorious for pirates, and those pirates would love the Tempest for parts. They knew that if their stealthing failed, that was it, end of story. It had to work.

As they jumped the Relay’s, Sara and Teon were at the ODSY drive, making sure it was functioning correctly. “Looks stable so far.”

“It does. Fingers crossed.”

“ETA 2 minutes.”

They had run flight tests before, but this was the first time they were truly testing out all the bells and whistles, its stealth and speed. Everyone was simultaneously confident and nervous.

“Head on up to the Bridge.” Teon told her, “I’ll keep an eye on things.”

Sara nearly ran to the Bridge, where the rest of the team was. Lucille had taken up position in the Science Officer’s chair, with Kallo in the pilot’s seat. Sorenna and O’Connell watched and waited. Sara went up behind Kallo’s chair and very briefly squeezed his shoulder.

“Hey. ETA 30 seconds.” He told her. “We can do this.”

“Of course we can do this. We have faith in you.” 

As they entered the Abyss, things were normal. Kallo tested every flight system in open space; everything seemed to be operating at peak efficiency, a fact Kallo was extremely pleased by. They had neared an Asteroid Belt when they got the signatures.

“Batarian ship on our sensors.” Lucille told them, “Looks like pirates, they’re headed right for us.”

“Perfect.” Kallo said, “Time for a real test.”

They waited for the pirates to get closer. Then, Kallo engaged the stealth systems and headed into the Asteroid belt. They watched as the Batarian ship stopped dead in space. The Tempest, on the other hand, glided silently between the asteroids, handling beautifully under Kallo’s skilled touch. They moved through the asteroid belt and far away from the Batarians without them being aware of them in any capacity.

A huge grin formed on Sara’s face, and she excitedly shook Kallo’s shoulders. “We did it! It works!”

Sorenna near jumped onto Sara’s back, hugging her and giggling with pure excitement. Sara turned and hugged her back, moving as Sorenna jumped up and down and brought O’Connell into the pile, much to his fake chargin. Teon ran into the Bridge and came to a sliding collision with the group, smiling and laughing.

They’d done it. They’d really done it. 

It wasn’t more than a week later when Kallo walked in and dropped an Initiative Passport onto Sara’s desk. He’d been accepted into the Initiative to fly the Tempest, much to everyone’s pure delight.

Sara almost couldn’t believe it. It was happening.

Andromeda was happening.


	9. Initiative

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for Kallo and Sara to leave Sur'Kesh to report in to the Andromeda Initiative; home would be gone, forever.

It was raining on Sur’Kesh the day they had to leave. Kallo stuck out his hand to the raindrops, watching them fall over the jungle, the waterfalls heightened by the rain, the wind whistling across the treetops.

The Tempest was complete. The project had come to a close, and Sara and Kallo had to leave Sur’Kesh to report for the Initiative; it was about that time to make the 600 year jump.

Sara looked to Kallo, but both remained silent. Kallo had already gone to see his clan and say goodbye. Now it was just a matter of saying goodbye to the Milky Way, to Sur’Kesh; no longer home. Sara reached up and put her hand on his shoulder, “It’ll be fine.” She told him quietly, “We can do this.”

“I know.” He replied, reaching up to squeeze her hand. “I sure am going to miss the rain though. The trees, the air…”

“We’ll find you a nice jungle in Andromeda.” 

“I could go for beach front property too, there’s options.”

Both of them were packed up and ready to go, they just had to catch the shuttle. The wait was the worst part; it was too quiet. 

“It’s not too late to turn back.” Sara muttered, “It’s okay.”

Kallo turned to her and smiled, “No going back. This is the adventure of a lifetime.”

It wasn’t long before their team showed up to see them off. They had all been reassigned to new projects, new inventions, but they all came out for their friends; one last gathering.

“Now you two look out for each other.” Lucille told them with the sternness of a parent, as she always did. “And be careful out there.”

“A new Galaxy. Don’t alienate them too much.” O’Connell grinned.

“Har Har.” Sara rolled her eyes at them, “I’m more worried about you alienating the remainder of the Milky Way.”

“Is that why you’re leaving?”

Sara grinned, “Why else?”

“Ouch!” They laughed together, light and friendly, as it had always been.

Sorenna suddenly pulled them all into a group hug, seemingly trying her hardest not to burst out into tears. “Stay safe out there. You two do us all proud.”

“You guys made it possible.” Kallo told them; Sara could tell by his voice that he was trying to hold back his own tears.

“Take Andromeda by storm. We’re very proud of both of you.”

The shuttle to the Citadel arrived just then, with people boarding around them. Kallo and Sara both took deep breaths. They had to leave.

“Live well guys.”

“Don’t do anything stupid.” 

“No promises!”

Sara and Kallo were among the last to board, finding the closest window; they watched as the Shuttle took off, their friends waving goodbye. They took each other’s hands for comfort as it hit them.

“We’re never going to see them again.”

Sara squeezed his hand, “We’ll have each other. And new friends. No one said we had to be shut-ins.”

“A kickass team and a kickass ship. I can get behind that.” The two watched as the Shuttle left the atmosphere, leaving Sur’Kesh behind forever. 

It was a quick jump to the Citadel, but they knew this was where they had to go their separate ways. Kallo needed to report to the Nexus, while Sara had to catch a shuttle to Earth. Kallo went with Sara to her docking bay; it was somehow toughest to say goodbye to her. It hadn’t been this hard before, even with his own clan.

“Hey, c’mon Kal lighten up.” She nudged him with a smile, “We’ll see each other again in Andromeda.”

“I’m holding you to that.” He told her, smiling for her. Sara raised her right hand,

“I promise to make it to Andromeda in one piece.” She smiled still, but her eyes had that glint to them, not exactly fear but… she was nervous. “We might not face a friendly situation out there. Let’s just… remember to keep a clear head. We’ll have each other’s backs out in Andromeda, the Tempest is our home.”

“Absolutely.” He nodded, only breaking away from her gaze when her shuttle was called for imminent departure. Sara sighed, just a little bit, enough that he noticed. 

They hugged each other, and noticed in the other that slight fear of letting go. It was hard to leave someone so close; Kallo reminded himself over and over, it was only temporary. In the end it was Sara who broke away, needing to catch the shuttle; smiling that smile, she picked her bags up off the ground. “Safe travels, Kal. I’ll see you on the flip side.”

As she left, looking back only once to wave to him, Kallo felt a pain deep in his chest. It was something he’d never experienced before, something he couldn’t exactly name. Like he was suddenly missing something as her shuttle lifted off and left the Citadel. However he quickly shook the unfamiliar feeling away and grabbed his own bags, headed to wait for his shuttle. 

-

It was strange for her as she was approaching Earth. When once she’d considered it a home away from home, now it seemed unfamiliar and foreign. Something was missing but what it was, she couldn’t place.

The shuttle arrived on Earth on time, and Sara disembarked to dark skies; it was still a half hour until sunrise. As she moved through the terminal, a familiar face caught her attention.

“Scotty!”

Scott barely turned in time to catch his sister, she quite nearly tackled him. He grinned and laughed and spun her around once in good fun, hugging her tightly.

“Hey Sara! Long time no see.”

“We have to stop separating for so long, it’s getting tiresome.”

“An Andromeda goal, as it should be.” Scott promised, immediately grabbing the heavier bag of hers to carry. 

“When did you get in?”

“Last night.” Scott told her as they walked out to the rental car Scott had gotten.

“Sorry to make you wait.”

“Ah it’s fine, better than making the trip three times.” Scott yawned regardless as they packed her bags in next to his.

Sara chuckled and pat Scott’s shoulder, “I’ll drive.” She took the keys from him, “You get some sleep.”

“I won’t argue. Thanks sis.” 

It was a five hour drive out to the Initiative station they were staying at until Hyperion was ready to board. Scott fell asleep almost instantly; he’d always been able to sleep anywhere under any condition, and the car was no exception. His quiet breaths were calming, something she was very familiar with.

The station itself was not only to coordinate and house Initiative passengers, it was being used as a training ground for the small number of volunteer security personnel, crisis response and the Pathfinder team. It was out of the way for the wait. 

The siblings opted to share a living space instead of take up two; they were used to it of course, an extra mattress in the corner didn’t bother either of them. After all, it was only temporary, and Sara would readily admit to missing Scott’s company.

“I hear the Tempest is the top of its class.” Scott told her. She was in the little mini-kitchen brewing up some tea. “Dad told me Nexus leaders were impressed.”

“We poured our hearts into it.” Sara smiled, “So far as I’m concerned it deserves every commendation in the world.” She brought in two cups; Scott raised his brow, taking one of them.

“Last time you made tea it was just hot water with no flavor.”

Sara rolled her eyes at him, “I may have learned a thing or two from Kallo.”

“That Salarian buddy of yours right?”

“Yeah. He’s on the Nexus, I’ll introduce you two once we’re in Andromeda.”

“That’s not getting any less weird.” Scott laughed and took a cautious sip of the tea. “Hmm. Old dogs can learn new tricks it seems.”

“Who you calling old, twin?”

“It’s pretty good.” He told her.

“Damn right it is. No more of those ‘Sara can burn water’ jokes, being an adult comes with learning.”

“Yeah, and almost burning down a house in the process.”

“Don’t knock it till you try it.”

“Why do I have to try it if my twin tries it for me?”

“We’re not actually psychically connected, we just pretend to be.”

“I refuse to believe that Skater.”

Sara snorted, “Drink your damn tea Scotty, before I agree with you.”

The two laughed together; she was forever grateful at how easy it was to fall back into normality with her brother. Like they’d never been separated by life at all.

-

“We’ve pulled a team together. Figure we’d start training in the morning.”

Alec had come to visit the twins before any amount of training or bureaucratic nonsense could stop him. He usually stayed on the Hyperion, where he could be of the most assistance, but he often came back down to the station to assist the security personnel and, now, to train his team for Andromeda.

“You should join us Sara.” Alec suggested with a shrug of his shoulder. He seemed more at ease than he normally was; perhaps Andromeda was the reason?

“Me? Holding a gun? Funny.”

“I’m serious. There could be any number of surprises out there. Besides, I might need you down on Habitat 7. It’s possible we’ll need an Engineer on hand in the case of shuttle malfunction, communications breakdown.”

“For once… I agree with dad.” Scott spoke up, “Been a long time since you’ve practiced anything to do with shooting. We were what, eleven last time? Hang around for training, get to know the crew, refresh your skills. Better to know it and not need it than need it and not know it.”

Sara sighed, pulling back her hair. “Fine. Just not in front of the rest. Don’t let me get in the way of your real training.”

“Done.”

“What do you think we’ll find out in Andromeda, dad?”

“Any number of possibilities.” Alec told them, “There’s no telling. So we’ll have to be prepared for anything, especially for the worst case scenario; hostile contact.”

“What about peaceful contact?” Sara asked.

“There’s protocol for that. No use of deadly force unless there is a direct and obvious threat to you or your team.”

“Think it’ll happen?”

“Statistically, it’s likely.” Sara hummed in thought, “The Heleus Cluster is unusually populated with potentially habitable worlds. It stands to reason that the chance of life is increased because of it. Whether or not that life is intelligent is another matter entirely.”

“That’s what the Pathfinder team is for: finding out the answers to those questions.”

The ‘Pathfinder Team’, Sara discovered, was barely a team to begin with. A few were hand-picked by her father but the remainder were volunteers. There was a lot of work to be done, it was obvious.

Alec introduced a woman by the name of Cora Harper first. Apparently she’d been training under him for months, but neither mentioned that they’d never heard the name before. She was a strong woman, capable, and would be Alec’s second in Andromeda. That sat just fine with Scott, so far as he was concerned he was just there to shoot shit (and, according to Sara, look good doing it). Fittingly, Alec had given him the job of Recon Specialist, and was training him for the task.

Doctor Harry Carlyle wasn’t exactly part of the Pathfinder team, but he would be looking after them as their medic. Sara’s medical needs had been forwarded to him, and they discussed it briefly in private; he agreed not to say anything, she just had to check in with him often, both on Earth and in Andromeda. She liked him instantly, finding him friendly and an immediate confidant. There were others who were volunteers; Kirkland, Greer, Fisher, Hayes, and the seemingly new addition Liam Kosta. All capable, but aside from Liam and Cora they were in need of training.

Sara was sent calculations from the Nexus every so often. Superintendent Kesh had put her straight to work; she had a good sense of humor too, her emails were never boring. She’d often do them while listening to her father and Cora working with the recruited Pathfinder team. It was relaxing in a way, working kept her mind from thinking too hard on their departure from the Milky Way. She got a few short emails from Kallo as well, but everyone was busy and they had very little time to communicate. They resorted to the short emails back and forth that always made her smile. Soon a month had gone by without her really realizing it.

“Your father talks about you and Scott all the time.” Cora told her one day as the two sat buy during one of Alec’s training exercises. “He was very glad you two were along for the ride.”

“Hmm.” Sara smiled, “He hasn’t said it in so many words but we got the idea.”

“Has he gotten you two your implants yet?”

Sara raised a brow, “Implants?”

“He hasn’t told you? The Pathfinder teams get implants.” She tapped the side of her head, “It’s a direct link to SAM node, and each other in an emergency situation.”

“Huh.” Sara scowled a little, “He never mentioned that.”

“That a problem?”

“I’ve never had great experiences with AI. His research was done… well, lets just say he never really cared about what Scott or I felt about it.” She shrugged, “Luckily for you guys I’ll probably stay on Hyperion solving equations, have your fun with the guns.” Cora chuckled lightly.

“Taking one for the team huh?”

Sara grinned, “Someone has to keep them in check and sane, might as well be me.”

“I’ll help if you want.”

“We ladies have to watch each other’s backs.” They laughed lightly; Sara figured they’d get along just fine.

Sara didn’t get to know the others all that well, preferring her corner and calculations. However she found the group to be a fun bunch; Scott got to know them much better than she did. All she really cared about was that they were dedicated, passionate and would make a great team for her father.

Alec took Sara for gun training when he could. It was just them at that hour; Alec was running her through pistols again first. She was acutely aware that she really needed to brush up on her shooting skills.

“Why didn’t you tell me about the implant?” Sara asked as she practiced, one slow shot after another, trying to keep her hands steady enough with the added weight.

“I was going to. It just never seemed like a good time.”

Sara pressed her lips tight. Another shot rang out, “Does Scott know?”

“He agreed to the implant, actually. Scott saw the benefit. I asked him to… let me discuss it with you myself.”

“I see. You thought it would freak me out, so you wanted to tell me privately. Scott thought the same and agreed to your request.” Alec nodded, and Sara took a deep breath before firing her next shot, “Then I want the truth from you. This isn’t about the Pathfinder team, is it?”

Alec sighed and took his time in answering. Sara loaded in a new clip as she waited for whatever answer he was going to give. She knew in her heart what it would be; she just needed to hear it from him.

“Your mother designed the implants personally.” He told her, “Take your breath, then shoot as you exhale.” He interrupted himself to correct her shots, which she followed. “We thought that the implant and SAM could help her illness, but… well.”

“You think SAM could help mine.” Sara finished, lowing the gun and closing her eyes.

“Maybe. We won’t know until we--”

“Dad.” She stopped him short, setting the gun down and turning to face him fully. “Stop it. You’ve done this my whole life.” Alec couldn’t look her in the eye, “You can’t save me. You don’t _need_ to save me. You need to accept that.”

“You’re my daughter.” He told her, “How can I?”

“Might help if you let go of that self-loathing you’ve got. This isn’t your fault, it’s not anyone’s fault. If I can be at peace with myself, you can find it too.”

Alec shook his head, as if he couldn’t discuss this with her, not yet. “Putting that all aside Sara, the implant would benefit you in Andromeda. SAM would be able to monitor you through stasis and potentially keep your symptoms stable while you’re asleep, just in case something happens. We don’t know what stasis will do to you. In Andromeda you would be able to communicate with him directly, he could help with your work. If you’re needed planet-side at any point you’ll be much safer with his oversight.”

“You forget that I watched AI killing people in cold blood. Who’s to say that SAM wont…”

“I didn’t forget. SAM is different. He draws directly from human experience; killing you would kill part of himself. He wouldn’t consider it, I promise you that much. And if something goes wrong, you can choose to remove the implant once we’re settled in Andromeda.”

Sara took a few breaths, beginning to pace in thought. She was not comfortable with this, not by a long shot, but she could see the obvious benefit; she knew there was no way to know if or how stasis would effect her. She didn’t want to end up dead before waking back up. 

“I can get it removed if I want?”

“You have my word. Unless there’s some kind of emergency of course. He won’t do anything you don’t want him to do”

“Yeah. I understand.” Sara took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Alright. I can see the benefits.”

“… You’re taking this much better than I thought you would.”

She raised her brow, “I’m not a child anymore dad. I can think logically.”

“… Of course.” Alec put his hand on her shoulder, a smile coming to his face, “You’re just like your mother. This will be a great new start for all of us. You’ll see.” Sara nodded; she sincerely hoped it would be.

-

Just as Sara was returning to the little apartment, she got a message through her Tool. Scott was on the couch watching the news; he took one look at her face and knew exactly what had gone down.

She plopped down on one of the mattresses and opened her Tool; it was an email from Kallo, which simply read;

_Sara,_

_The Nexus is preparing for departure. I’m going into stasis very soon. I’ll admit to being slightly nervous, six hundred years and all, but it’s also exciting._

_See you in Andromeda!_

_\- Kallo_

Sara had no idea the Nexus would be leaving before the Arks. They’d gotten no notice of the Ark’s needing to depart. The Arks must have been behind schedule.

_Kallo,_

_You’ll be fine, just a short nap that’s all. Sleep well! If you’re not there I’ll kick your ass._

_Be careful._

_\- Sara_

“So… you’re not going to yell at me?” Scott asked as she sent her message.

“Nope.”

“… Really?”

“Yes really. We talked it over. I’ll get the implant for the journey, just in case.”

“I… uh… okay?” She cleared his throat, trying to overcome his surprise. “I didn’t think you’d go for it.”

“I’m not stupid, and I’d rather not fall asleep and never wake up.” She thought a moment, “Just… do me a favor?”

“Anything.”

“Make sure dad actually has me woken up once we get there. I wouldn’t want him to keep me in stasis while he searches for a cure.”

“You think he’d do that?”

“Wouldn’t put it past him.” She yawned, “It’s a long jump though. Maybe six hundred years can change us all.”


	10. Ghosts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kallo wakes up on the Nexus in Andromeda only to be met with chaos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI I haven't read Nexus Uprising, so details are probably wrong in this, but hell this is my canon and imma do it however I wanna do it <3

**_Kallo~_ **

_We made it._

That was his first thoughts upon waking up.

Of course, that was the thought on many people’s minds as their eyes blinked open after over 600 years. The Nexus coming to life after so long, ready to begin new life here in Andromeda.

It was hard to believe at first. As he sat in a cryo bay and looked out the window at unfamiliar stars, he allowed himself to take in the moment, to recognize that he was in a new Galaxy, a new world.

And he could never go back.

As he waited for his final checkup and duty roster, he decided to check his mail. He didn’t think there’d be much there, but he was curious enough to check anyway.

The few mails he got from people he once knew, friends, were still in his archives. The well-wishes and memories that made him smile. He went through unread mail, which was all general advertisements and spam mail, which he promptly deleted. No use for them here.

However, the final two messages in his inbox caught his attention.

_Kallo,_

_I’m not sure if you’ll receive this message. You’ve, of course, already entered cryo and have left the Milky Way. I am still on Earth, awaiting the call to report to Ark Hyperion. It’s been six months since you left on the Nexus. There seem to be technical problems here. The Ark still plans to leave, however I find myself wondering just what the delay is. They haven’t called in any of the big-name Engineers, not even my father has received news. We are here, simply waiting._

_I’m not too sure why I’m sending this at all. Perhaps to calm my own nerves. My father has insisted on training me in combat during this waiting period, how to shoot guns and the like. I haven’t particularly enjoyed it, but I also cannot deny the benefit of this knowledge; we don’t know what we’ll find in Andromeda. I’ve taken to the sniper rifle. I hope I never need to use these skills, but there’s no way to know for sure. Scott has far more experience in this field anyway; if anything, he’ll be the one pulling the trigger._

_You just make sure you’re still alive and well when we finally manage to make it to Andromeda. You bet your ass I’ll pull you out of the grave just to kill you myself if you’re not. Be careful out there, I’ll see you on the flip side!_

_\- Sara_

_Kallo,_

_I think something is wrong._

_It’s been twelve months since you left the Milky Way. We have been waiting without news all this time. Now, all of the sudden and without any warning, we’re being called to immediately report to the Hyperion. We’re leaving within the next 24 hours, whether or not everyone who’s meant to be there is on board. The Hyperion has orders to leave without exceptions._

_This is all very strange. The Turian Ark hasn’t left yet either, and they are in just as much of a rush as we are. The Salarian and Asari Arks left just last month, in the same rush. I can’t help but feel nervous about this entire situation. It feels like the Arks are running from something._

_But, this might just be me reading too much into the situation. Regardless, I am about to enter stasis. When I wake up, it will be in Andromeda, how weird is that? I can’t begin to imagine how you must have felt waking up there, but soon I’ll probably be feeling it too._

_See you soon!_

_-Sara_

There were no further messages from her, but he couldn’t help but smile. Her messages were curious, and he wondered why the Arks had left so late, but he still smiled thinking that she’d taken the time to message him, and imagining her voice to the words eased his own concerns. He hoped she’d arrived as safely in Andromeda as he did.

A sudden crashing sound that resonated through the entire station made him immediately rescind his thoughts. Moments later the station began to shake with explosions and nearly everyone dropped to the floor with screams of shock, fear and pain.

A moment of shock stunned him before his thoughts caught up, and he jumped up off the floor to report in. He ran out of the cryo bay and down several hallways, with people running in a panic all around him. He couldn’t help but remember the Citadel, when the Geth had attacked. Soon he had made his way to the pilot’s station.

There was nothing there. Where once there was a wing, now there was just a gaping hole in the hull of the ship, with only emergency shielding giving them air to breathe. Outside there was a black cloud that was sparking and smoking in the vacuum of space, unlike anything he’d ever seen.

With nothing else to think or believe, Kallo began to run for his ship. If this was an attack he needed to be on the Tempest and in the air to assist the Nexus with recon, there wasn’t any time to gather up the scattered pilots. As he was running, he could hear his crisis instructor’s voice in the back of his mind. 

_“When in doubt, get your ship into the sky. Fear will be a factor, but you cannot allow it to stop you. Keep moving. If you are able, the ship is always safer in the air than it is on the ground.”_

As Kallo got closer to the Scout Division, the explosions got more significant. There was extreme damage in the area, with fires and debris, along with bodies, strewn everywhere. Most people were trying to escape, but many of his fellow pilots were running towards their ships, having the same idea he did.

Kallo was nearly knocked off his feet by an explosion just behind him. He managed to gain his footing and keep going, uninjured save for a small few cuts. He reached The Tempest quickly; there were some fires on the landing pad and debris but the ship appeared to be mostly unharmed. There were a few of the Scout Division ships still on their pads, others were laying in ruins under debris or lost to space completely.

Kallo jumped aboard and raced to the Pilot’s seat. No one else would be on board, but the Tempest could be flown by one person when necessary, and it was a quick matter to power up the ship. Kallo lifted the Tempest off the pad and began making his way through the Nexus to find a reliable way out.

Debris was falling all around, explosions as the Nexus rammed into the black cloud outside. Kallo managed to get in touch with a few pilots, but only a few who had managed to get through the debris so far.

_“We might not face a friendly situation out there. Let’s just… remember to keep a clear head. We’ll have each other’s backs out in Andromeda, the Tempest is our home.”_

“All Pilots, this is the Tempest, Scout Division Ident 2-5-2-7, call in.”

“Scout Division 3-5-6-8, checking in.”

“Scout Division 6-7-4-3 checking in!”

“Scout Division 5-1-8-0, reporting.”

“Is that it?” Kallo asked in disbelief.

“Yes, Bravo Division has been completely wiped out. Scout division is decimated, it’s just us.”

“Take the earliest path out of the Nexus, watch that damn cloud.”

_“We can do this.”_

_“Of course we can do this. We have faith in you.”_

“This is 6-7-4-3, I’m hit! Debris collision, my stabilizers are out!”

“Divert all power to landing thrusters.” Kallo advised.

“No time, I’m going down! Steering away from cryo pods! I repeat, steering-!”

Silence. Kallo sighed, knowing he had to continue finding an exit.

It wasn’t long until they managed to find a hole in the hull large enough for the ships to fit through safely. Kallo maneuvered above the Nexus to gain a survey on the situation; upon seeing it, he needed a brief moment to take it in.

The cloud was huge. Absolutely monstrous, and moving all around them. The Nexus had slammed head first into the stuff.

_“Alright, man up! We’ve got a job to do, we’re not letting the Science wing have all the fun.”_

“Nexus control, this is Tempest Ident 2-5-2-7, please respond.”

He waited in the static for some kind of response.

“Nexus control, come in please.”

More static, and Kallo began to fear the worst. He made a few laps around the Nexus, noticing immediately that their only way out would be to backtrack.

“The cloud is moving! Oh...Oh Goddess!”

“5-1-8-0, what’s your status?”

Silence.

A few minutes later the last voice came in, “This is 3-5-6-8, the cloud targeted my thrusters!”

“What do you mean targeted?” Kallo asked.

“I mean a thread of it literally burst out and destroyed my thrusters! I’m drifting.”

“Give me your location, I’ll--”

“Oh no. No no no!”

An exploding sound, then silence.

Kallo took a moment. Every scout ship was gone, their trained pilots with them. He was the last one. They had all died. Kallo closed his eyes.

_“What would a girl do without the best damn pilot in the Milky Way, huh?” She was smiling at him._

_“The best pilot? Really, you’re going to make that joke?”_

_“An ace pilot with his ace best friend. We’re like a walking sitcom!” She laughed when he shoved her. “Hey you started it, I was just following through.”_

_“That’s terrible. You’re terrible.”_

_“You love me and you know it.”_

_“I wonder sometimes.”_

_“Ouch! Right through the heart, you bastard.”_

His eyes snapped open, and he focused back on the cloud. “Nexus Control, this is the Tempest, respond.”

“Tempest, this is Nexus Control.” Kallo breathed out a sigh of relief. The voice on the other end was going in and out, but it was audible enough. “We can’t reach any other pilots, what the hell happened?”

“Scout and Bravo Divisions have been destroyed.” Kallo reported calmly, “This is Tempest Ident 2-5-2-7. I’m the only one in the air.”

“We need a report, anything you can give us. Operations has a huge hole in it and we can’t see anything past this cloud. Suggestions?”

“I can see the Nexus from here.” Kallo told him, “Cease all forward thruster power, stop the Nexus in any way possible. The Nexus is drifting into the cloud, we need to backtrack to get out of the cloud.” 

“Got it, thank you Tempest.”

The suggestions were relayed, and the Nexus began to spin around. Soon enough it was headed back out the way it had come. Kallo went ahead of the Nexus, making sure it was safe. Soon both ships were out of the cloud; The Nexus was in shambles, but still flying.

When the coast was clear, Kallo leaned back in his chair and took a long breath. He closed his eyes and put his palms over them, allowing himself a few minutes to just breathe.

_“We did it Kallo!”_

_Sorrenna. Teon. O'Connell. Lucille. Sara. All smiling at him._

“We made it.” He spoke to an empty ship as if the ghosts would answer him. “We made it.”

-

It had been nearly a year. Nothing but pain and heartache and rebellion. Every day was a struggle, risking lives just to find water. It was nothing like he’d imagined.

Kallo had to train new pilots on the fly. His comrades, people he’d known, had nearly all died to the Scourge. But they still needed pilots, so volunteers were trained by Kallo daily to handle and avoid the Scourge. Kallo was tired, stressed, and missing the Milky Way.

He had to remind himself that he had signed up, and that this had always been a possibility; he did his best to make the most of it. He still had the Tempest, he had made some new friends in his fellow pilots, and was doing his best to stay positive. 

The rebellions had taxed everyone, and there were days Kallo wondered if they had been right in leaving. Then he remembered Sara, and knew he had to stay. He’d promised her he’d be there, and he was not one to go back on his word.

There hadn’t been any word from the other Arks. Every day that passed he grew more and more concerned. A near year and no word from any Ark was grading on everyone; it became much more real the day they shuttered the Ark docking bays to conserve power. People started losing hope that they were coming.

But Kallo still did his best to remain optimistic. He missed Sara every day, but it was the hope that she would show up that kept him going. Someone he knew from his old life, their old home. Someone who reminded him of the good in the world. He wouldn’t talk about her, but he thought about her and the friends he’d left behind every day. Slipping back into his memories, hearing her voice in the back of his mind, was keeping him sane.

“Anyone here?!”

A shout through the Tempest caught his attention. He stopped reviewing his most current charts and turned in his pilot’s seat, seeing no one there.

Curious, Kallo stood and went to the cargo hold to find the source of the voice he’d heard. When he got there, he saw a Turian standing in the middle of the hold, looking around at the very limited supplies he had stored there.

“Yes?” Kallo slid down the nearest ladder to greet this stranger.

“You must be the Tempest’s pilot. Kallo Jath?”

“That’s me.” He shook her hand firmly, “And you are?”

“Vetra Nyx.” She said with the Turian equivalent of a smile, “I work with Superintendent Kesh, helping with-- well, just about everything. We hear you’ve been having supply trouble?”

Kallo sighed and nodded, “A lot of looting, missing crates, wrong supplies. I can’t keep this ship running without the proper equipment.”

“The Tempest is invaluable.” Vetra agreed with a firm nod of her head, “I’m here to sort all this out. I’ll be staying on the Tempest, getting you the correct supplies, guarding against looters, you name it.” She showed him the orders she’d been given from Kesh. “Hope you don’t mind an extra person aboard.”

“Not at all.” He smiled, “The company is welcomed. Let me show you around.”

Kallo gave her a full tour. Vetra was extremely inquisitive, asking question after question, which he was all too happy to answer. She wanted to know everything, right down to the bare-bones design. 

“It’s perfect for a Pathfinder.” Vetra said after awhile, “Here’s hoping one shows up to use it.”

“That’s all any of us can hope for.”

Vetra fell into a rhythm very quickly. She was never in the way, never a bother. She was, in fact, extremely helpful; by the end of the week he’d gotten all the missing supplies back and enough equipment to make much needed repairs on the Tempest. It was enough to distract him. Enough to make the days just that little bit easier.

-

Over a year and nothing. No word. Hope was all but gone.

Kallo did try to keep his optimism, but even he couldn’t help the hopeless feelings every once in awhile. The thoughts that maybe, just maybe, none of the Arks were coming.

That she wasn’t coming.

A bottle of cheap brandy had been in some of their supplies. Kallo took the bottle and a glass; he was immediately reminded why he didn’t drink, but he couldn’t put the cup down either. He just sat in his pilot’s seat as the Tempest drifted in open, unfamiliar space, waiting for their next orders.

_“We make a pretty kickass team.”_

_“Yeah. Yeah we did, didn’t we?”_

_“Kal? You promise you'll stay with me?”_

_“Of course. A kickass team sticks together right?”_

“Kallo?” 

Kallo hadn’t heard Vetra entering the Bridge. He shook himself out of memory and smiled at her regardless; she didn’t appear to notice him spacing out.

“Hey.”

She looked to the bottle, “Cheap brandy. Not a good sign.” 

“Help yourself, I’m done with the bottle.” 

“No thanks, got my own." She sat down in the Science Officer’s empty chair, holding up Dextro-brandy and taking a swig straight from it. She glanced between it, his glass, and Kallo’s slightly disgusted face and put the pieces together.

“Any non-drinker voluntarily drinking has a lot on their mind.”

“Yeah? I imagine everyone does right now.”

“Not everyone is flying the Scout ship keeping us afloat right now.” She shrugged, “Want to talk about it?”

Kallo was silent for awhile, swirling the liquid in the glass a few times. Eventually he shrugged lightly, “Not much to talk about.”

“Sure there is. It’s just us here.” Vetra took another sip from the bottle, “Let me ask you something. A lot of fed up people left the Nexus already. You could have forged your own path, taken this ship and left when none were the wiser, been far away by now. So, why didn’t you?”

That wasn’t an answer he needed to think about. But should he tell her? He wondered what the harm would be, but wasn’t sure if he could bring himself to talk about her much either. All he knew was that ever since he’d gotten to Andromeda, been awoken from Cryo, it felt as if he was missing part of himself.

“I’m waiting.” He told her.

“Waiting?”

“For… something to happen?”

Vetra did not look convinced as he sipped his brandy. “A year is a long time to wait.” He turned his gaze down to his console, unsure of what he was looking for. “Is there… someone you’re waiting for?”

_“You’re a sarcastic asshole sometimes, you know that?”_

_“I believe you humans say ‘birds of a feather flock together’?”_

_“Ass.”_

_“And yet you still associate with me.”_

_“Shocking.”_

“...Maybe.”

Vetra was quiet for a short time, trying to read his face. “You know… if this person has skill, I could pull some strings. Call in a favor, get them out of Cyro.”

Kallo glanced at her with a small smile, “That’s kind of you Vetra, but she’s not on the Nexus.”

“I see. Paarchero?”

“Hyperion, actually.”

“Ah. Human, wouldn’t have guessed that one.”

“No reason you should have.”

Vetra hummed, swirling the bottle. “Tell me about her. What’s she like?”

Vetra saw him staring off into space, smiling a little more, like he was slipping into his own memories. “She’s… my best friend. She’s a genius, fearless and friendly, colorful in personality and in the tattoo’s she’s covered with. Calls me ‘Kal’, she’s the only one that does. She spends her life trying to help people, that’s part of the reason why she’s on the Hyperion. She’ll be a huge asset once the Ark gets here.” He looked at Vetra, “I told her I’d be here when she got here. I don’t break my promises, especially not ones made to her. Hell I owe her my life. So I’m waiting.”

“Hmm.” Vetra smiled, “If she’s all that, I can’t wait to meet her.”

“I think you two would get along famously.” He chuckled, “She just has to get here.”

“She will, Kallo. She will.”

He sighed and downed the rest of the brandy in the glass, “Yeah. She’s not one to break a promise.”

-

Kallo was near frozen. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He couldn’t accept it.

“What do you mean dismantle the Tempest?” Vetra asked. Director Tann was standing before them, having delivered the news personally; they wanted to strip down the Tempest for its parts.

“We need the technology for the Nexus.” He told them.

“You can’t!” Kallo scowled, “This ship is unique, one of a kind, necessary for the Pathfinders. You can’t just destroy all this hard work, what will we do when the Pathfinders show up?”

“It’s been twelve months.” Tann sighed, “No word from any of the Arks. We cannot keep waiting for them, we need the parts.”

“Director, if I may suggest an alternative.” Vetra put on her calm, collected demeanor; the every-woman she used to get what she needed. “This ship is absolutely invaluable. Instead of dismantling it, let's put it to its real purpose. Give us an Engineer, a Science Officer, and let us scout Helius. We can map the Scourge, catalogue planets and systems, search for fresh water sources. This will protect all of our future civilian ships when we get colonization going again.”

“Colonization has not been successful.” 

“It will be. It’ll have to be for us to survive out here, you know that.”

Tann was quiet for a minute, thinking on her words. “We can’t risk losing the Tempest’s parts if we can use them here.”

“You won’t be risking anything.” Vetra placed a hand on Kallo’s shoulder, “Kallo here is the best pilot in the Initiative. Nothing is going to happen to this ship.”

Tann scrubbed his eyes, pressing his palms into his forehead. “I can see the benefit, of course.” He took a breath, standing straighter, “Fine. The Tempest gets a trial run. We’ll assign you some crew.”

“Thank you, Director.” Vetra smiled as Kallo let out a heavy, relieved sigh. “You won't be disappointed.”

Tann didn’t respond, just left with annoyance all over his face. Kallo leaned into the nearest wall as soon as he was gone, nearly dizzy with relief. “Thank you, Vetra.”

“Anytime.” She smiled, “I know what the Tempest means to you. I’ll talk to Kesh; we won’t lose the Tempest, not while I’m around. You have my word.”

And indeed, she kept her word. Soon enough Engineer Gil Brodie and Science Officer Suvi Anwar were assigned to the Tempest, and they scouted the Scourge around the Nexus for the next two months without real issue.

It was lucky for everyone involved, in fact, as two months later Vetra came to see him on the Bridge with noticeable excitement and renewed energy.

“You won’t believe it Kallo!” She laughed, “Ark Hyperion just docked!” 

Kallo quite literally sprang out of his chair to face her, “You’re serious? They’re here?”

“Yes! But… hang on, what’s that Sid?” She listened to Sid, her kid sister, over her Tool for a moment, “It sounds like… there was an accident.” Kallo sucked in a breath, “A woman by the name of Sara Ryder has taken over as Pathfinder for her father, Alec Ryder. They just arrived in Nexus HQ. Sounds like they reached Habitat 7 and ran head first into the Scourge and the Kett.”

“I… see.” Kallo let out the breath he’d been holding. At least she was okay.

“But hey, you’ll get to see your friend soon, that’s wonderful!”

Kallo grinned, “It’s about damn time. The Pathfinder is going to need the Tempest too. Let’s make sure it’s ready for her.” 

Vetra ran off, and Kallo breathed out a huge sigh when she couldn’t see him.

Sara was safe. She was safe. She was safe.


	11. Habitat 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hyperion arrives in Andromeda and to Habitat 7, only to discover that nothing is as they thought it would be.
> 
> Who will live? Who will die? Who can make it through with their sanity intact?

_**Sara~** _

“We made it.”

Sara whispered the words over and over again as she sat in the Cryo Bay. She had a searing headache, but was otherwise alright; she figured her usual medications would handle the headache when she could get her hands on some. For the moment she just drank a lot of water and held her head in her hands, trying to shake off the 600 year nap and vaguely listening to the Initiative’s Habitat 7 ‘intelligence’.

“Sara Ryder?” She squinted and looked up, coming face to face with an Asari standing before her. “Lets get you checked out.” Sara sat straighter for her; she was clearly a doctor. “Look here.” The doctor scanned her several times, people running around everywhere getting to their stations or shaking off cryo. Sara looked across the way and saw Dr. Carlyle checking over Liam; Liam smiled wide and waved at her when he saw she’d seen him.

“Now you are a part of the first wave of Arks arriving in Andromeda; our new home for humanity.”

The doctor smiled, “Makes it sound so easy, doesn’t it?”

“That’s how you know it wont be, that’s for damn sure. Should be a fun ride though.”

“Sounds like you’ll get that right away.”

“Yeah?”

“Over here now.” She scanned her more, “Your father wants you on the Bridge. The Pathfinder team needs to be mission ready within the hour, and he wants you monitoring.”

“Hmm. Guess he really needed me after all.”

The doctor didn’t respond to that, instead moving to the console behind her. “We just need to check your implant. SAM? Are you online?”

After a moment, SAM’s voice came through. **“Affirmative. Good morning Sara, how are you feeling?”**

“Just a headache.” She said, finishing her cup of water. 

“Normal for stasis revival. It’ll fade.” The doctor made sure she could stand up properly. “You’re all checked out.”

“Any word from Nexus? Or the other Arks?”

“None, but we really just arrived. I’m sure it wont be long now.” She smiled, “You can go, though we’re about to revive your brother. It always helps to see a familiar face.”

“Sure, I’ll-”

The ship began to shake, then lurch violently with explosions. Sara and the doctor fell hard onto the floor, along with most everyone else in the cryo bay. With everything shifting, a pod got loose and flew toward them. They were rather fortunate that gravity failed, and all of them began to float.

Sara managed to balance herself quickly. Nearby she saw Liam spinning in circles, and she couldn’t help but chuckle at how silly he looked. “Forget your sea legs in the Milky Way, Kosta?”

Liam heard her and laughed outright, continuing to spin. “Just a little rusty, that’s all!”

Eventually it was Cora who reset the gravity; she’d made their way to them remarkably quickly to reset everything; Liam looked a little green around the eyes.

“-Cora, Ryders, report to the Bridge.” Her father’s voice rang out over the coms.

“Alright, lets-”

“Hold on a second.” A medic called out, “We’ve got a problem. It’s Scott Ryder.”

Sara sucked in a breath, eyes going wide at the site of his sparking stasis pod. She was the first one of them to the pod, trying to see his face, to see something; she couldn’t.

“What’s wrong with him?” She asked, nearly in a panic. 

“It’s alright Sara, breathe.” The doctor placed a hand to her shoulder, “Scott’s fine. His revival was interrupted, that’s all. The process might take longer than normal, we’ll place him in a low-level coma and allow him to wake up naturally.”

“I… Okay. Okay.” She took a deep breath, patting his stasis pod lightly. “I can’t lose him. Please take care of him.”

“I will. You have my word, Sara.”

-

After helping work crews fix some bad relays, Sara and Cora had made their way to the Bridge. The scene outside the window was horrific; a huge black cloud had surrounded the Hyperion, smoking and sparking as if it was on fire. The Hyperion had run into the stuff and was trying to correct; all their sensors were scrambled and useless.

“My god…” Captain Dunn muttered, eyes blown wide as a planet began to appear amid the cloud. Parts of it were green and blue, others were black; like it was diseased. “Is that our Golden World?”

“That’s Habitat 7.” Alec told them, moving to a hologram and pulling up the planet. “New Earth, if we’re lucky.”

“It looks… dead. Diseased.” Sara mentioned, squinting at the holo. 

“It looks nothing like a Golden World.”

“Doesn’t matter.” Her father said as he stared out the window, “We need to scout out the planet.”

“I still don’t like it Alec.” Dunn crossed her arms defiantly. “We need to stop the bleeding. These sleepers need a chance to wake up!”

He took a moment, looking over the planet. Sara couldn’t read him at all. Then he turned to the Captain. “We’re marooned. 20,000 souls adrift at sea. And when the power runs out, stays out,” He pointed to the planet, “We need to know if that’s safe harbor.”

“And if it’s not?”

“Then it’s my job to find an alternative, it’s what we trained for. But if this goes well, we’re already home.”

Dunn sighed heavily, pressing her palms into her forehead. “Alright. Just… damn it, make it quick.”

“Cora, the rest of the team should be awake by now. Spin up two shuttles, planetfall in thirty.”

“Yes sir.”

“Sara, I want you down there with us.”

She turned to her father with wide eyes, “Me? I should be up here helping with repairs.”

“This cloud doesn’t look natural to me.” He told her, “It looks artificial. If that’s the case, I need an Engineer on the ground. It’ll be fine.” With a firm nod he left before she could argue with him, leaving her to stare out the window at the blackened planet.

“A stubborn one, isn’t he.” Dunn probably would have laughed, had the situation not been so dire.

“No one can claim he’s a people-person. Diplomacy was… never his way.”

“Just as long as he knows what he’s doing. It’s not like the cavalry is coming to save the day.”

-

“Scott is going to hate that he missed this.”

Cora and Sara were making their way to the hangar, work crews running down the halls trying to get to repair-areas.

“Are all Ryders adrenaline junkies?”

Sara laughed, “Hell yes. It’s in our blood, mind and soul. Scotty’s going to want stories.”

“He’ll be fine.” Cora pat Sara’s shoulder, “Lets go out there and get him some good stories.”

The Pathfinder team was ready to go, with two waiting shuttles and a lot of supplies. Even Dr. Carlyle was going with them to the planet’s surface.

Her father waved her over before they were set to leave, taking her aside and out of earshot. “I heard what happened to Scott.” He said, but that determined glint never left his eyes. He was completely focused on the mission, but was trying to be sympathetic for her sake. Failing, but trying. “Your brother’s strong. He’ll make it.”

“Yeah… What can I say? We inherited your stubbornness.”

Alec actually smiled at her comment, his eyes going soft for barely a moment. Sara caught it regardless. “Don’t let this get to you. I need you focused down there, understand?”

“You sure you want me there?”

“Absolutely. We’re already down a man with Scott out. Just remember your training and use your biotics as needed, you’ll be fine.”

“…Alright.”

Her father made a speech to the team, but Sara didn’t really listen. She was too focused on the planet, remembering how to hold her gun, getting her hands to stop shaking. Her head throbbed with pain; she had to push on anyway, just like always. She couldn’t let it bother her.

She was on the second shuttle down to the planet, with Liam, Fisher, Kirkland and Greer. She stared out the window as they carefully made their way through the cloud and toward the planet surface.

“Ryder.” Liam caught her attention, “We never really talked back in the Milky Way. Sara, isn’t it?”

“That’s me.” She shook Liam’s outstretched hand firmly, hoping he didn’t notice hers were shaking.

“Amazing, isn’t it? Hard to believe we’re finally doing this.”

Fire surrounded the shuttle as they entered the atmosphere. SAM was helping them navigate safely. “About damn time.” She told him, trying to sound as if she was prepared; she figured that she’d failed that task miserably. 

It was upon entering the atmosphere that they saw rocks floating through the sky, and what appeared to be advance Engineering.

“Shuttle two, are you seeing this?”

“Hyperion, we have evidence of an intelligent alien race. Sara, I need an analysis.” Alec asked over the coms.

“Can’t see much from here, I’d need a closer look.” She told him, “It’s not cobblestone, that much is obvious. It’s reflecting, that’s metal down there. The only plausible way these rocks could be floating like this is if something was effecting their surrounding gravity… maybe that thing is responsible?”

“Lets not forget that this isn’t the Milky Way. The rules might not apply here.”

“Has anyone seen us?”

“What if they’re not friendly?”

“We stick to first contact protocol.”

The shuttle began to be enveloped in clouds, with high levels of energy sparking around them. “The ionization levels just spiked!” Sara backed away from the window on instinct, “Lightning strike!”

The ship began to break apart. The window shattered, the door was ripped away, and Liam was sucked out of the ship; he managed to grab the side, hanging on for dear life.

“Liam!” Sara lurched forward automatically, trying to grab hold of him.

“Ryder!”

The ship broke into two pieces, and both Liam and Sara were sucked out of the ship and into open air.

Sara screamed for about five seconds, falling amongst floating rocks, debris following her decent.

 **“Acceleration increasing.”** SAM communicated.

“Yeah, no shit!”

**“Your jump-jet is malfunctioning.”**

“Shit shit shit!” Sara typed furiously at her omni tool, trying to help SAM balance the power load.

**“Reaching terminal velocity.”**

_“Fucking SHIT!”_

Her jump jet managed to break her fall enough that the initial impact didn’t kill her. Sara hit the side of the cliff and rolled down it, seeming to hit every rock along the way. She landed hard, cracking her visor in the process before coming to a rolling stop.

Almost immediately she was unable to breathe. She brought up her tool and used the lasers to mend the cracks, having learned how to do so when training as an Engineer. Then she managed to stand, greeted by the floating boulders and lightning coming out of a blue sky; there were some clouds, but she could also see the planet’s Rings and the death cloud from her vantage point.

“This is Sara Ryder, come in. SAM? Dad? Hyperion?” She called, “Anyone?”

“Save your breath!” Sara turned quickly, startled by his voice. Liam had survived the fall and was running toward her; he was out of breath himself, but seemingly uninjured. “Coms are dead. We can’t reach anyone, not even SAM.”

“Damn.” Sara muttered beneath her breath, sighing heavily. “I can fix the coms if we find one of the shuttles.”

“You make it sound easy. The shuttle split in two, it was… a blur. This is like a nightmare.”

“Yeah. No way this is home.”

“Hows your survival training?” He asked as they began to walk.

“I’ve… had my moments.” They almost immediately found their com device among debris from their shuttle, smoking and sparking. “Alright. We’ll have to find my dad’s ship.”

“Must have broken on impact, no wonder we lost connection to SAM.” Liam touched her shoulder, moving them both along. “Lets find some high ground, come on.”

-

It was clear early on that nothing was going to go as planned.

The alien tower they’d seen was closer now, and emitting high levels of energy that Sara couldn’t explain. Then they came across Fisher; there were two aliens they’d never seen before scouring the crash site.

Sara insisted upon following first contact protocol, and tried to approach peacefully. However the aliens began to beat Fisher, so they had no choice but to fire. Sara fired a shot and missed; Liam managed two head shots. She’d hope they missed her lousy shooting.

Fisher’s leg was broken, so they moved on to try and find Kirkland or Greer to help him. They found Kirkland surrounded by those strange aliens. Before they could help him, the aliens shot Kirkland in cold blood; he died instantly.

This time, some of Sara shots landed. One was a lucky headshot. For a brief moment she stared at the strange alien and tried not to panic outright; she’d just killed someone. A living creature. She’d killed it.

Sara did her best to imagine them as Geth, stopping herself from panicking long enough to continue on. If Liam noticed, he was kind enough not to mention it.

They found some surviving flora and an alien crashsite. It was obvious then that they weren’t native to the planet, and Sara could see some parts of the crash that she surprised herself in recognizing. Things that were almost clearly the thrusters, landing gear, cockpit. It seemed Mathematics really did transcend Galaxies, at least in some small way.

They found Greer, and a laboratory that looked fairly similar to the alien ship that had crash landed. Sara was no scientist and made little sense of it, but they were attacked by a strange robot-like creature and they both agreed the aliens had been studying the nearby tower. Then they saw the flares. They found Cora and the rest of the Pathfinder team hunkered down at their shuttle, fighting off the aliens. They assisted, and soon enough the coast was clear.

“Cavalry to the rescue, nice to see you guys!”

“You too Harry. Everyone alright?”

“All in one piece, thankfully.”

Sara looked around, “Where… where’s my father?”

“He went scouting ahead while we fixed the shuttle.” Cora told her, “Coms are still dead though.”

“I’ll handle it.” Sara nodded firmly, immediately making her way over to their still intact coms device.

“Ah hell, hostiles incoming!”

Sara did her best to put a barrier around herself as she fixed the coms. The rest fought and fought hard. Lightning even worked to their advantage, taking down the alien drop ship before it could lift off again. As the last of those aliens fell, the coms were fixed. “Got it!” 

“Guys, Hayes has been hit!”

Dr. Carlyle, who had been supporting Hayes, set her down in front of the shuttle before realizing what was around him. Moments later the two were surrounded by the sparking, cracking energy of an incoming lightning strike.

Liam ran to take cover, and Sara was only able to shield herself. Much to her surprise, Cora surged forward and threw up a sudden biotic shield; no one had ever mentioned she was a biotic, but she did it effortlessly, and protected Dr. Carlyle and Hayes.

“You’re a biotic?” Liam asked incredulously.

“Don’t worry, it’s not contagious.” She laughed a little at the shock in his eyes, pulling up her coms. “Ryder, sir? SAM?”

After a few crackles of static, SAM came through. **“Hello Cora. The Pathfinder would like to speak with you.”**

“Good, you got the coms working.” Alec appeared through their tools, “What’s the status of the rest of the team?”

“Liam and Sara just showed up. We have wounded crew, but the shuttle has been repaired.”

“No no no, hold it!” Sara connected herself to the conversation, “This shuttle is barely holding together as is. It certainly wont survive more lightning, even an increase in ions could destabilize repairs. We need an alternative.”

“Too dangerous to call for a Hyperion pickup.” Alec nodded, “I’ve had some ideas about that. We can’t fly through the lightning, but what if we turn off the lightning?”

“Turn off…” Sara looked up at the tower and the energy field it was giving off, squinting into the light it produced.

“What do you mean turn off the lightning? Weather is weather.” Liam said with a furrowed brow, extremely confused.

“…I see.” Sara’s eyes widened with the realization, “The tower.”

“Exactly. Come to my nav point, I’ll explain— Damn, they found me!” Gunfire cut off the conversation abruptly.

“Sir? Sir?!” Cora took a breath as the com went dead. “Doctor, can you two manage alone?”

“I can keep her stable. For awhile.”

“Alright then. Grab some gear and ammo, we need to go, no detours.” Sara glanced to the armaments; she saw a Viper sniper rifle just sitting there. She decided it wouldn’t hurt, and grabbed it with some extra clips to take with her.

It was a simple matter to find Alec. They followed the nav point; or, as Sara deadpanned, following the bodies worked just as well. He was close to the tower, and staying in one spot. They soon discovered why; it was a clear view of the hostile aliens and of the tower. They’d build some kind of shield around the tower and it was heavily defended. Some of them had especially big guns.

“Who are these guys?” Cora asked as they all crouched there, watching the aliens.

“Visitors, just like us. I don’t think they’re native to the planet.”

“They’re not,” Sara nodded, “We found a crash site and a laboratory, they’ve been studying this place for some reason.”

Alec glanced back at his daughter, brows raised. “You did some scouting.” He sounded surprised, to say the least.

“Not like Scott’s here to do it.” She shrugged, “We’ll just change the logs a little bit, put his name in place of mine, give him some kind of finders fee.” Alec laughed, just a little bit.

“Sir, you said something about the lightning?”

“It’s the dark energy cloud the Hyperion hit.” Alec explained to them, “It’s effecting the whole planet; interfering with that.”

**“The tower is caught in a feedback loop with the cloud. Together they are disrupting the entire climate with undirected energy.”**

“That would explain the increased ions, limited air, floating rocks.” Sara hummed, “It would also explain a cave we found, plant life sheltered from the storm.”

“It’s a good bet,” He nodded, “and I think if we can get in there and shut the tower down…”

“The lightning goes away.” Liam realized with awe in his voice.

“And the shuttle can get us out of here. In theory.”

“It’s our only option right now.” Sara sighed, “The shuttles wont survive as is. Question is, how to you plan on getting past those freaks?”

“Ingenuity. It’s them or us.”

“Oh it’s them, problem is: we’re outnumbered.”

“I’ve been working on that. We just need to change the math.” Sara could practically hear the smile in her father’s voice. Alec raised up his tool and readied himself, seeming to be waiting for something as he watched the aliens.

Sara realized what he was up to after a few moments. She saw him watching the increasing ions around the area. When it got stronger, he pushed a button on his tool. The lightning towers exploded at that moment, just in time for the next lightning strike, which hit the barrier and overloaded its power systems, killing several aliens in the process.

Alec jumped down to ground level, and with a boost of confidence, Sara was the first off the cliff to join her father.

“Sara, you stay close at all times, you hear me?!” Alec yelled as he began to run. She started to run as well to keep up with him, sticking heavily to cover.

“I hear you!”

The group moved toward the building, killing the aliens along the way. Sara did her best to stay close and, though she did shoot, she was getting more kills by stabbing the aliens with her omni-tool and biotics than her shooting abilities. If Alec noticed, he didn’t comment; he instead was shouting out where the squad should move, and talking to SAM about profiles, whatever that meant.

They moved through a room, something like a lab, and for the most part Sara took cover. She was acutely aware that in such an enclosed space she would more likely hit a wall or her comrades than one of them, so beyond a few pot shots she stayed in the back and followed them through the lab and up to a walkway.

There was a huge door there, with a console sitting in front of it. Cora and Liam split up, one to each side of the platform, while Sara took a sniper position behind her father. It was easier to hit things from here and she had more confidence in using it.

“SAM needs time to decode the language, cover me!”

The aliens were coming in force to try and stop them, but the three managed well enough. SAM was decoding the language as fast as he could. Sara managed to hit a few targets with the sniper, but that just made the act of killing so much more real. If more and more weren’t trying to charge in, she might have had time to panic.

“Ah, the doors jammed!” Alec sounded rather frustrated. Sara looked to see the door was only partially open, and Alec was quickly preoccupied with one of the cloaking creatures that jumped him. Sara jumped from her position and ran to the door, checking it over; too much wear and tear from the lightning, she concluded, and did her best to push it open enough to get through.

“We’ll handle this!” Cora shouted, and a moment later Alec was using his own strength to help her push it open.

“Think we can shut this thing down?” She asked him as they got it open.

“I don’t know yet. SAM’s decoded a small portion of the language, it’ll have to be enough.” Alec seemed rearing to go, wanting to know what was inside. “Now lets see if I can have a conversation.”

“Okay… with who, exactly?”

“More like what. I think it’s automated.”

Alec moved inside, waving at her for her to follow him. The two moved down a large, rather dark hallway to a chamber just beyond, where it seemed to go up so far neither could see the top. There was some kind of glowing triangular panel in the center of the room that her father approached. Sara moved towards one of the walls, studying the glowing green lines of data that streamed through the walls in intricate patterns. “SAM, begin translating.”

**“I will need some time.”**

“Dad… look at this.”

Sara had put her hand on the wall. She felt the tingling static sensation of energy or electricity moving through it. Alec came to see, and placed his hand there as well. “This isn’t just metal, this is… this is like a hard drive.”

“I don’t follow.”

“Only something massive could make an energy well so immense.” She explained, looking all around, “The tower isn’t protecting some kind of energy source, the tower _is_ the energy source. To effect an entire planet… it stands to reason that everything, the floors the walls… they’re conductors, gathering and storing information about the planet that can then be manipulated to achieve a desired effect.” She shook her head in pure amazement, taking it all in. “This tower could potentially store more data than the collective Milky Way has ever created or used, not even our best technology could make something like this, this-this suggests the presence of a species here thats hundreds, possibly thousands of years more advanced than anything or anyone from the Milky Way. And we know it’s not these aliens because they’re studying it. So who, or what, created this? Who would have the time, power and ability to create something this complex, this advanced?”

Alec hummed in deep thought as he listened to her, “You think whoever did this destabilized the planet on purpose?”

“Maybe. But going by the aliens I do know, it would be a waste of a perfectly viable and livable planet. Considering the fact that this tower can alter the weather and atmosphere, it’s possible that ability goes both ways; destabilizing or stabilizing. Maybe they were trying to make the planet habitable for their people, trying to terraform it. This energy well might be a malfunction. I have no way of knowing for sure and speculation can, from an engineer’s perspective, be slightly dangerous. We’d need to study it further.”

“This must be a field day for you.” He chuckled,

“Oh, I could spend years studying the engineering feats here.”

“I’ll bring you back some time.” He promised, moving back to the center of the room.

**“Translation complete.”**

Alec smiled, “Lets see what we have.”

He raised his hand toward the panel, and glowing orange energy began to surround his fingers. Data streams, initially invisible to the naked eye, moved around his hand and streaked towards the panel. It reacted, beginning to glow brightly. Then the tower lit up, just briefly, before they heard a sound that Sara equated to be the release of whatever energy had been built up.

She turned when she no longer heard lightning strikes outside, and saw sunlight beginning to fall onto the platform. She and Alec moved back to the door to look; the lightning and dark clouds were gone, replaced by sunlight and a much nicer atmosphere.

“Well look at that. You did it.”

Alec was smiling in a way she’d not seen in years, “There’s hope.” He told her.

“That’s all anyone needs right now.”

“Hmm. Not if we stand here staring at sunsets.” Alec pat her shoulder, “Lets gather up the crew and—”

A strange noise from behind them caught their attention, and they turned to see a strange fog moving towards them. Alec grabbed hold of Sara just in time; the fog pushed them back violently, and Alec used his body like a shield between her and the debris that was suddenly thrown everywhere. The two were launched off the platform and down a long drop to a flat area far below the tower.

Sara didn’t remember landing. One minute they were in the air, the next she was shaking out of a daze in the dirt, surrounded by debris and a few smoking parts and pieces. She managed to roll and push herself up onto her hands and knees, getting a better, albeit slightly dizzy, view of the area. That was when she saw him.

Her father was laying among the debris nearby, breathing heavily. Sara tried to stand, but could only stumble; the fall had done its damage, that much was certain. It didn’t feel like anything was broken, but she still wasn’t able to pull herself up. So she crawled forward, moving and moving until she finally reached her father to check on him. Alec was alive and conscious, but groaning in pain. Blood was pooling around him; she couldn’t see where he was injured, but she guessed it was somewhere on his back or legs, and she wasn’t strong enough to roll him to get at the injuries. 

“Cora!” She yelled into her Tool, pulling her father’s head and shoulders into her lap with a grunt of pain from him, “We need an emergency extraction, right now! I repeat, emergency extraction!” 

“They’re spinning up the shuttle!” Cora told her, “ETA three, maybe four minutes!”

“Hurry, we might not have that long!” Sara turned her attention to her father; his eyes were shut and his hands clenched with the pain. “Dad? It’s okay dad, they’re coming, just hang on.”

Alec breathed heavily, lifting up his arms. Sara tried to stop him, but he refused, instead bringing up his Tool. “SAM… transfer Pathfinder access…”

“What? Dad, what are you—?” Her words were stopped by a searing pain in her head; the headache she’d already had increased to levels so violent she quite nearly screamed, or passed out; probably both. She almost fell but did not, managing to keep upright, the pain making her miss the last few words he’d said. It was like her head was splitting open.

“Sa-sara…” Alec’s hand found his way to his daughters, and he squeezed it tightly. “You’re mother, she… would have been proud…” He coughed heavily, and she saw blood coming out of the corner of his mouth.

“No, no no no!” She managed, hissing at the throbbing pain in her head. She was getting dizzy all over again; she couldn’t understand why. “Son of a bitch, don’t you say that to me! You are going to make it!” She saw him smile at her a little bit through the breaths and coughs, but he was rapidly losing consciousness. “I am not going to tell Scott you died down here. Keep your eyes open, damn it!”

In the end he was in a state of dazed consciousness, coming in and out of focus, and all she could do was hold him.


	12. Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara assumes the role of Pathfinder among the chaos and confusion of a stricken Nexus.

Sara wasn’t sure how long she sat there, trying to keep herself awake through the searing pain, but soon enough Liam’s hands were on her shoulders and Cora was scanning her father’s vitals. She screamed something Sara didn’t catch, but she briefly saw the shuttle coming into land. Dr. Carlyle and Cora carried Alec into the shuttle, while Liam pulled Sara up and helped her walk. He sat her down on one of the benches in the shuttle while Alec laid on the floor, with Carlyle trying to stop the bleeding as best he could. She didn’t remember the injuries; everything was fuzzy. She could briefly recall them picking up Greer and Fisher along the way, and locating Kirkland’s body, but otherwise she sat there and held her head in her hands, trying to remember to breathe. She could feel a weight over her shoulders, like an arm; she thought, very briefly, that it was Scott.

The next thing she knew, Dr. Carlyle was kneeling in front of her shaking her shoulder, trying to snap her out of her daze.

“Harry?” Sara looked around, and saw out the door that they were in the Hyperion hangar bay. Liam was waiting outside, and just them were in the shuttle. There was blood on the floor, a lot of blood. “Where…? What happened?”

“You panicked.” He told her calmly. 

“My father?”

“He’s in surgery. We got back an hour ago.”

“We… what?”

Harry smiled gently, standing and helping her out of the seat. “Come on, I’ll explain what we know. We need to get you checked out.”

Liam helped Carlyle get her to the med bay. They found a corner upon Sara’s request, then Liam left so that Harry could talk with her privately. He shined a light at her eyes and checked all of her vitals, “Hows your head?”

“Throbbing.”

“Stomach?”

“Nauseous.”

Harry hummed, “Well, you didn’t break anything. I’m seeing a lot of bruising but that’s the extent.”

“Dad… protected me.”

“I see.” He sighed, “Did you get any medications?”

“No time for that.”

“Alright.” Harry pulled out four pills and handed them to her with some water, “Take these and hydrate. Now comes the tough part.” Carlyle sat down beside her to explain, “Technicians came to tell me something happened at SAM node about the time of Alec’s injuries. Now your brain is highly overstimulated, which is why you’re hurting so badly.” He told her, “We’re not entirely sure what happened yet, but I have a hunch. I’m going to talk to Dr. Lexi T’Perro, and… she needs to know about your illness.”

“Lexi T’Perro?”

“She’s the Asari that checked you out when we first arrived.”

“Ah.”

“I trust Lexi implicitly. She wont spread the word, but we need her insight. Alright?”

Sara smiled a little, “If you trust her then so do I.”

“Alright.” Harry stood, “You get some rest.”

“Wait.” Sara stopped him, standing up a bit too quickly. She wobbled, but maintained her footing. “Can I go be with Scott?”

He smiled in understanding, “Of course.”

-

Sara spent the time quietly at Scott’s bedside, holding his hand in her lap. He was still unconscious but seemed peaceful enough. The med bay was quiet; Fisher and Hayes were both asleep, and only those with stasis sickness and a few medics were around. They’d moved Scott to the quietest corner of the med bay, slightly out of view of the rest, hoping rumors wouldn’t spread too wildly. The medications were starting to kick in as she sat there, and she slowly started to lose the nausea. 

It wasn’t too hard to figure out what Harry had meant. She remembered her father’s words; transfer Pathfinder access. There was no question, no coincidence. He had made her Pathfinder. And for the life of her, she couldn’t fathom why.

At first she tried to rationalize the thinking. Perhaps he just panicked, thinking he was going to die so he made a rash decision. Maybe there had been some mistake; Cora was supposed to get the job, not her. It was hard to fathom the reasoning. She had skills, sure, but she wasn’t ready to be a Pathfinder. 

**_Hello Sara._ **

“SAM?” Sara took to her Tool, which was offline. “Where have you been? How are you speaking to me?”

**_This is our private channel. I shared it with Alec. I apologize for being unavailable; the transferring of Pathfinder access was… difficult._ **

“So… he did do it. I’m…”

Before she could finish, Harry walked in with Dr. T’Perro, Cora and Liam. All of them looked rather confused and slightly concerned.

“How are you doing Sara?” Harry asked, scanning her briefly.

“Better. Hows my father?” She asked them, “Did he…?”

“Surgery was successful.” Dr. T’Perro explained with a gentle smile on her face, “He is in critical care at the moment. No promises, but we think he’ll be out of CC soon.”

Sara sighed heavily, scratching at the back of her neck. “I’m guessing that means he can’t continue as Pathfinder.”

“No… His injuries were severe. It’s possible he’ll never even walk again. We don’t know yet.”

“Well that’s just great.”

“That’s not all.” Cora stepped in, seeming slightly nervous. “We went to check out SAM node. If the data is correct—”

“He made me the Pathfinder.” Sara finished, nodding, “Yes I’m… aware. That’s what the headache was from? The transfer?”

Liam sat down beside her, “It seems that when the transfer took place, both you and your father were in a state of trauma.” Lexi explained, “The transfer played havoc with your brain.”

“Causing the panicked blackout.”

“Correct. SAM is connected to your mind on a deeper level now. Trying to untangle it… could kill you.”

“Are you okay Ryder?” Liam asked her.

“Pff. I have no training, no experience, never planned for this and was only here to be a damn Engineer.” She grumbled, “What was he thinking, that bastard.”

“You’ll learn.” Liam told her, patting her shoulder. “You’re not alone here.”

“Liam I had never even shot, let alone killed a living being before Habitat 7. It’s not about learning anymore.”

“Sure it is.” Harry told her, “You have intelligence on your side. You’ll be fine.”

Sara glanced over, “Cora?”

“I wont stand in the way of your father’s decision.” She replied simply.

Sara shook her head, pulling back her hair, just trying to process. “What about the Ark?”

“That’s the weird thing.” Liam laughed, “Whatever your dad did, it saved the day! The cloud thinned out and navigation came back online. We’re on our way to rendezvous with the Nexus.”

“It’ll take awhile to get there, but we’re moving at least.”

Sara let out a long breath, nodding rapidly. “Okay. Okay, I… I should go and help them with repairs.”

“Oh no, no way miss, you are going to rest.” Harry immediately said, trying to stop her.

“I’ve gotten my rest.” Sara stood with a deep breath, “Time to get my hands dirty, it’s why I came out here in the first place. Don’t worry, I wont lift shit.”

Sara briskly left the room, leaving the four of them there shaking their heads in disbelief. “Stubborn like her father.” Cora mentioned, “Must run in the Ryder bloodline.”

“There’s no arguing with her, that’s for sure.” Harry shrugged, moving to monitor Scott. “Get yourselves some rest while you have the chance.”

-

Captain Dunn had plenty of work for her, almost too much. Systems scrambled or destroyed by the cloud, hallways blocked off, hull breaches. In the end Sara went to go and repair at least some of the construction mechs that had been brought along for the trip; she knew that the technicians would need those regardless of whether or not she was on board. 

There wasn’t anyone else working on the mechs. Some technicians were working in the area but most were trying to fix areas with Cryo Pods. She worked steadily to keep her mind off of everything that had happened.

“Ryder?”

Sara rolled out from under the mech long enough to look at who’d spoken her name. Liam and Cora were standing there; Liam smiled at her.

Sara rolled back under the mech and continued to work, “Sara, please. I hate being called by my last name, makes me feel like my old man is standing right behind me.”

“Heard he’s out of CC.” Liam told her, sitting down on the floor by her legs, “Put him in next to Scott. He’s still asleep, bad injuries you know?”

“My dad’s a tough son of a bitch. Just wait for it, he’s going to want to stand up the minute he wakes up.”

“I… figured you’d be more concerned. Are you alright?” Cora asked her, brows slightly furrowed.

“I’ve already had a breakdown today Cora, I don’t need another one. Our Engineers need these mechs whether I’m okay or not, we’ve got a job to do here.”

Liam laughed, “A bit of your dad in both of you, clearly.”

“Did you meet Scott in the Milky Way, Liam?”

“Yeah. Just as stubborn as you are.”

Sara rolled out from the mech and looked to her tools, choosing one of the wrenches after a moment before going back under. “We’re not twins for nothing.” She grunted as she tried to unscrew a particularly heavy bolt, “Did you know Captain Dunn called me ‘Pathfinder’ earlier? This is happening. It should have been his moment.”

“But now it’s yours.” Cora told her, “You just need to decide what you’re going to do with it.”

“I’m a damn Engineer, not a combatant.”

“We survived Habitat 7.” Liam reminded her, “You’ll learn, it just takes time.”

“Maybe.” Sara sighed, rolling out and sitting up. She was done with the mech, “No guarantees that time is on our side though.”

“All hands, Nexus arrival is imminent. Repeat, Nexus arrival imminent.” Dunn’s voice rang out across the ship.

“Well then.” Sara wiped off the grease and put away the tools, “Lets get to work.”

-

It was an immediate shit storm.

The Nexus wasn’t even near completed in construction. Sara’s engineer’s eye could immediately see that they’d started construction in many areas but had to stop abruptly. It was obvious to her, something had happened. Their docking bay into the Nexus was dark and deserted when they arrived. When Tiran Kandros found them he mentioned a Militia, and the story came out.

“A rebellion.” Sara muttered, scratching at her hair, “Fantastic.”

“Are things back to normal?” Cora asked him.

“Normal? It’s been fourteen months, and too many people died when we hit the Scourge. No word from anyone but you, hostile aliens; we call them the Kett. And our command structure has been fractured, some of us are filling in for leaders who died.”

For a moment, Sara’s heart clenched. Her thoughts turned to Kallo and she feared that something had happened to him; that he wouldn’t be here, on the Nexus. What would she do if he’d died out here before she’d even woken up?

“Lets see what support we can provide, then.”

They moved up to HQ, with many workers running around doing their jobs and slightly confused. As soon as the group walked up the ramp, every single person turned to stare at her and Cora like they were foreign objects.

“Good luck.” Kandros pat her shoulder, and she knew she was in for it.

“The crew of the Hyperion!” A Salarian approached her with an immediately uptight demeanor. “You have no idea how much your arrival means to us. I’m Jarun Tann, Director of the Initiative.”

Sara’s brow furrowed, “Sara Ryder, this is Cora Harper. We’re here to provide whatever assistance we can… I’m sorry but last I checked, Jien Garson was the Initiative’s Director.”

“Director Garson was killed when the Nexus collided with the Scourge fourteen months ago, along with much of our leadership.”

“I see.” She nodded, “We hit a strange cloud trying to get here, I assume that and the Scourge are one in the same?”

“Yes, it’s a plague on the whole system.”

A woman walked up to the group, “We need any supplies you can spare. Food, water, we’re short on everything.”

“This is Foster Addison, she oversees Colonial Affairs.” The Salarian had a rather confused look on his face, “Where’s the Pathfinder?”

“You’re looking at her.” Sara told him, matching his gaze.

“You’re not Alec Ryder.”

“There was a situation with the… Kett, I think that’s what Kandros called them. My father has been incapacitated; he made me the Pathfinder in his place.”

“Incapacitated?” Addison asked, “What in the world does that mean?”

“Injured? Unconscious? Just out of surgery and not even awake yet? Might not ever walk again?” Sara sighed in exasperation, “He’s not going to be able to return to the role, simple as.”

Addison scrubbed at her eyes as she spoke, “Please understand, the entire Initiative is at risk. None of the Golden Worlds panned out,” She showed them a map of the cluster, what they’d been able to scout out, “they’re a bust. And there’s been no word from the other Arks.”

“No communications, no distress calls?”

“Nothing. Their locations and situations are completely unknown.” Tann sighed, “Our supplies are nearly depleted, rationing bought us some time but even that’s running out.”

“We need more resources. But that takes people, and we cant wake them up. Now more than ever, we need a Pathfinder.”

“That now falls to you, Ryder. Are you up for the task?”

Sara hummed as she looked at the map, noticing the flickering and static pulses flashing across the screen. “Your systems need critical updates. Use the power from the Hyperion, you risk losing this data otherwise. Our ship should generate enough to get these lights on and make your updates without overloading other systems.” She looked to the two with as much determination as she could muster, “I’m ready to do what needs to be done.”

“Ha!” She blinked at the female voice, noticing a Krogan moving towards them, “Here they are questioning you after you only just arrived and you’re trying to fix our systems. I like you already.” The Krogan has a wide smile on her face and a glint to her eyes, “I’m Nakmor Kesh, Superintendent of this station.”

“Good to finally meet you in person.” Sara smiled and shook her hand.

“Likewise. Your FTL Drive calculations before launch saved some lives when we hit the Scourge.” Kesh looked to her colleagues. “I’m surprised you’ve never heard Sara Ryder’s name before.”

“It’s nothing personal, but we don’t need someone with a former title; we need qualified help.”

“You’re looking at qualified help.” Kesh gestured to her, “At least the Pathfinder here seems willing to try, and I know she’s dedicated. We could use a fresh perspective.”

“You’ve heard my concerns. I’ll leave you to it.”

Addison left, and Cora went with the Director to work out getting them a Scout ship. Sara gave Kesh a sincere smile; her first in Andromeda. “Thank you for standing up for me there.”

“Hope’s in short supply here.” Kesh told her with a firm nod, “What little we can find should have a chance to bloom.”

“With all this Pathfinder business, it might be difficult to assist with repairs here,” Sara glanced around, “But I’ll do what I can.”

“Right now our repairs are the least of your concerns, but I’ll keep you informed. Let me show you something.” Kesh took her to the nearby window, which was completely dark. “An hour ago, that was all dark.” Lights began to flicker on all around, filtering in through the window, “But with the power from your ship, we’re keeping the lights on. You have my vote.”

“And when the power runs out?”

“You’d best go talk to Director Tann. Make sure that doesn’t happen. And don’t be shy— come see me when you have a chance.”

As Sara was about to head into Director Tann’s office, she could hear SAM’s voice through her implant. 

**_Sara, your father has awoken and wishes to speak with you. Additionally, I would like to discuss a private matter with you-- please come see me at SAM node._ **

-

To say Sara was uncomfortable was a woeful understatement.

SAM certainly did have private matters to discuss. Mainly how he had unrestricted access to the Pathfinder’s physiology, allowing him to enhance her skills and functions when required; the ‘profiles’ her father had been using on Habitat 7. A fact he’d kept secret. She understood of course, it would scare a lot of people, and she was no exception to that bunch. She was not at all interested in being enhanced by AI, but it seemed she no longer had much choice either. Her father strikes again.

Not only that, SAM was able to show Sara one of her father’s own memories. It was so clear and vivid it was almost frightening to experience. It was a memory regarding his experience being turned down by the Alliance for wanting to create AI, and of the moment he learned her mother’s illness was Terminal; it seemed her mother had told her before she’d told Alec. And to top it all off, her father had left encrypted audio logs for her that would only be unlocked by reaching more of these ‘memory triggers’. The one major audio log that was accessible was his thoughts moments before their departure to Habitat 7, and that he was sorry for what she and Scott would find out should anything happen to him.

So yes, Sara was extremely uncomfortable and pissed off. This was not how she was expecting her first day in Andromeda to play out.

**“Sara,”** SAM began, **“I understand that you are very unsure about this. Your father explained your hesitance to me several times in the Milky Way. I wish for you to know that I am here to assist you, not to harm you. You are my window into the world, and destroying you would destroy a part of myself. Do you have a problem with me? I would like to know.”**

“SAM, I—” Sara sighed and scrubbed at her face, “I don’t have a problem with you specifically. You’re living with thoughts and that makes perfect sense to me. The problem is my father’s reasons for creating you in the first place. And after what I witness on the Citadel, I find it very difficult to trust an AI having unrestricted access to my physiology.”

**“I know your father wished to spare you from GH-1033.”**

“He thought you could save mom too. I’ve known since the beginning. But you can’t stop what happening to me, and dad needs to learn that.” She sighed, “Look SAM, I want this to work. I’m going to try and learn to trust you, truly. Just do me a favor?”

**“Of course.”**

“If I’m in my quarters on whatever ship we get, you don’t monitor me or my conversations at all, not unless I call you.”

**“An acceptable middle ground. You have my word.”**

“Thank you. Now to have a word with my father.”

-

Alec had been placed in a bed directly next to Scott. The med bay was virtually empty when Sara arrived, but Alec was awake and alert; she readily admitted her surprise.

“Are you in pain?” She asked him,

“Nothing I can’t handle. I talked to Harry, he says it may not take a long time for Scott to wake up. They’re already seeing an increase in brain function.”

“That’s good.” Sara sighed, running her fingers through her hair. “Why, dad? I need to know why you think I’m ready to be a Pathfinder.”

Alec let out a long breath, “I thought I was going to die down there. I didn’t want to leave any loose ends.” It seemed the medications weren’t as worn off as he thought they were. The lies were written all over his face. “You’re smarter than anyone else on this ship, and you’re adaptable. I have no doubts in your capabilities. You’ll learn quickly, you always do.”

“But why not Cora? She’s your second.”

“Cora was no more prepared for the role than you are. Just don’t tell her I said that.” Alec sat himself up with a groan, and Sara briefly helped to prop him up with pillows. “I know you have a long way to go when it comes to combat ability. Just remember to steady your hands. Your biotics are an extension of yourself, use them. Make your feet move as fast as your mind does, stick to cover, keep your head low while under fire. Practice makes perfect. Keep a clear head and trust in your intuition, and never stop being curious. The day you stop asking questions is the day life loses its meaning. Understand?”

“Yes… I understand.” She felt it best not to push the subject further, not while he was in such a condition. “I’ll do everything I can.”

Alec’s gaze softened, “I know Habitat 7 was your first time ending a life. The first time is never easy, and to be honest with you it never gets any easier. You learn to block it out, to rationalize, but it never gets easier. Not even for someone like me.” He squeezed her hand tightly, “Just remember what you’re fighting for. And if you need anything, anything at all, you know you can contact me. Okay?”

“Okay.” She managed a weak smile to him.

“I know you and I have never really seen eye to eye, but… I’ve hoped that 600 years could change a man. I don’t want us to be distant. I mean it when I say ‘anything’, even if you just want to yell at me. Can we try to… work past this? A fresh start?”

She cocked an eyebrow and looked at him curiously, “Where’s that coming from all of a sudden?”

Alec shrugged, “Nearly dying has a way of… making you think of what could have been. Seems I’ve been given a second chance to act on it.”

Sara hummed a little, her smiling growing just a little wider, a tiny laugh escaping her. “I can’t make you any promises but… yeah. We can try. Just start healing first, can’t work things out if you end up dead.”

Alec smiled, “That’s all I needed to hear.” He let go of her hand, “Now you go on out there and be the best you can be. I’ll contact you the moment Scott wakes up.”

“Thanks dad. I’ll do whatever it takes. I promise.”


	13. Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara embarks on her first few days as Pathfinder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of you may notice that I used small sections of oneshots I've written in the past here. If something's good why not use it right? It IS my own writing, and I can put notes of the names of these oneshots if y'all want me to. =)

_Kallo, where are you?_

Sara was rather worried. With all the talk of the deaths and the rebellion, she hadn’t reached any information about whether or not he was actually alive. His old mailing address expired during the 600 year jump and she had no other means of contacting him here. Was he alive? What about the Tempest, was it still intact? She wondered if she should ask Kesh.

“I hear we’ve been given a very special ship.” Cora said, watching her as she paced. “Don’t look so nervous, it’ll be fine.”

“Oh it’s not that.” Sara shook her head, “Just looking for a friend.”

“I see. With all the chaos you’d like to know if they’re alive or not.”

She shrugged, “It’d be nice.”

“Once your authority has been recognized I’m sure you’ll get all the answers you need.” Cora smiled reassuringly. The tram doors opened to their stop, one of the docking bays. As they approached the view of the landing pad, Sara’s eyes widened at the very familiar ship that was coming in to land.

“They call her the Tempest.”

Sara sucked in a huge breath, her eyes lighting up, her heart swelling with pride. It was the Tempest. Her ship, just as beautiful as she’d remembered it. She quite nearly cried upon seeing it in one piece, and was rather glad that Cora didn’t notice.

She had to control herself and not sprint to the ship. As they got closer she noticed that there were some scrapes, some paint missing, but otherwise it seemed to be in working order. Some Nexus crew were loading up with supplies for the trip. They met a Turian there by the name of Vetra. She was friendly and a smooth talker, quick with words and seemingly quite good at what she did. 

Vetra took her through the ship, explaining it and introducing its small crew. Sara listened absently; mostly she was mentally checking over all the systems they passed by. A few things had been modified for its use in Andromeda, but otherwise it was exactly as she remembered it and nothing seemed to be having issues. 

“I haven’t even shown you the best part yet.” Vetra told her upon seeing her smile, “Our pilot should have everything ready to go, head on up to the Bridge when you’re ready.”

“Pilot…” Sara turned quickly, “The pilot, is their name Kallo? Kallo Jath?”

“Yes, it is.” She nodded, though slightly confused, “He’s waiting for your signal to launch.”

“Thanks.” Vetra left her up in the meeting room. Sara took a moment to breathe, letting the moment sink in. For a brief moment she could visualize the entire team working on the ship together. For the first time since arriving in Andromeda, she felt like she was at peace.

Sara couldn’t get to the Bridge fast enough. When the door opened a rush of memories came to her. So many days spent optimizing the systems here; all the laughter and smiles, endless days and sleepless nights. It was perfect, in a way, to be back here.

Then she heard his voice.

“Departure trajectory locked, Nexus Control.”

Sara smiled, almost ready to cry again. He was alive. “I see they’re still letting you retain your pilot’s license.” She couldn’t stop the very slight shake in her voice.

Kallo stiffened in his chair for just a moment, something Sara caught as he recognized her voice, as familiar as his own. He looked back, and there she was; Sara Ryder, back on the Bridge of the ship they built together.

Kallo grinned so wide she thought he might hurt himself, “It took some persuasion, believe me.” He stood and went to her, taking her hands with both of his. “I’m so glad you’re alright Sara, I got the emails you sent to me. After so long and no word from your Ark… Well, it’s been a lonely year without a brilliant mind around.”

She squeezed his hands, “And a lonely year without the best damn pilot in the Initiative. Sorry about the Ark, seems we left everyone hanging.”

Kallo’s smile faded, “I heard there was an accident on Habitat 7. Are you alright? Where’s Scott?”

Sara took a deep breath, her own smile gone. “No, I’m… not alright.” She told him after a moment, “Scott is stuck in a coma right now, there was a problem with his stasis pod. And my father was… injured on Habitat 7. He passed the role on to me.” She smiled weakly, “All I can do now is try to make the most of the situation, help the Nexus. Whatever it takes.” 

Kallo sighed and hugged her, doing his best to be comforting. He could tell full well that she was stressed out and overwhelmed; he was glad he could still read her so well. His touch seemed to be helping as she immediately hugged him back. “I’m sorry Sara. Once things calm down, we’ll talk. Okay?” She nodded into his chest, and he noticed just how tense she was.

“I’m so glad you’re here Kal. I really missed you.” She told him, her voice muffled by his chest. She let him go after a few moments and smiled for him, “Can’t imagine exploring Heleus with anyone else.”

“And I can’t imagine following anyone else into the breach.” He grinned again, “Come on, Navigation is yours now.”

-

Liam was about to go and find Sara when he spotted them.

It was rather fortunate that Cora and Vetra were moving in his direction. He waved them over quickly and pointed; Vetra stopped Suvi and Gil as they passed by, and they all looked at what Liam was pointing at. Sara and Kallo on the Bridge; they watched the two sharing a hug through the open door, one they didn’t seem to notice was still open.

“I… guess they know each other?” Suvi mentioned, shrugging her shoulders.

“Sara did mention she was looking for a friend here.” Cora hummed.

Vetra nodded, “And Kallo once mentioned someone he was waiting for from Ark Hyperion. If they’re one in the same… I don’t even want to calculate those kinds of odds.”

“I’ll bet there’s a good story there somewhere.” Liam laughed as the two moved to the Bridge’s navigation, “I can’t wait to hear it.”

-

Eos was just as bad as Habitat 7. Worse, as far as Sara was concerned. As if the Radiation and bodies among the ruins of failed outposts weren’t enough, there were Kett everywhere. Absolutely everywhere. Not only that, but there was that strange technology that had injured her father; she was hesitant to go near the stuff, but she knew they had to.

At least their new Nomad scout rover was enjoyable.

She approached the closest tower with Cora and Vetra. This one wasn’t like the large tower from Habitat 7; it was smaller with no rooms, only a panel surrounded by three pylons. There was a larger tower in the distance, but it all appeared to be offline.

It was easy enough to theorize that these structures, when activated, would reveal the control center access point. They found strange Glyphs in the area that would complete a complex algorithm, which SAM thought would activate the monolith.

“This will take days to crack.” She shook her head, “I’ve worked with algorithms that look similar in theory, but in practice is another matter entirely.”

“There’s two more of these sites,” Cora pointed out over the horizon, “Maybe we should pick up these strange markings from those sites as well and work on them back at the Tempest.”

“That would be best. Lets…”

“Wait!”

The sharp voice and running footsteps caught her immediate attention, and Sara barely had enough time to turn before she was knocked down. When she looked up there was an Asari on top of her, with a black streak across her eyes and an amused smile on her face.

“Back off. Now!” 

Cora and Vetra immediately had their guns out and pointed at the stranger. She lifted her hands slowly, “Whoa, easy there. You’ve come this far, just let it ride.”

“It would be a lot easier if you weren’t on top of me…” Sara mentioned nervously. If there was one thing she hated, it was being pinned down. 

“Not a fan huh?” The Asari chuckled, moving off of her as asked, “Don’t worry, I wont tell anyone.” Sara stood up with a relieved sigh. The Asari bounced on her toes. “I’ve been studying this tech for months. I don’t know how you activated those glyphs, but you have to let them cycle through their channels.”

“Easily done.” She nodded, “These algorithms will take a while to work through.”

“So you do understand! That’s great!” The Asari smiled wide, “I know, I know— who am I? I mean it’s obvious who you are, I saw the ship swoop in. You’re a Pathfinder! Was beginning to think the Initiative was just making you guys up so we wouldn’t lose hope but… you’re for real, huh?”

“As real as I can be.” 

“I’ve been trying to activate those Glyphs for months.” She continued. “But the Remnant is tough to crack, I still haven’t figured it out.”

“Remnant?”

“That’s what I call them! The towers, these panels, the bots; they’re all Remnats of an ancient civilization, something much bigger. But that’s too long to say, I hate long. So: ‘the Remnant’! Like my name’s better as ‘Peebee’.”

“I.. see.” Sara shook her head, “I saw these things clear the skies on Habitat 7. If my theory is correct, it could clear the radiation on Eos too. Repair the atmosphere.”

“Huh, atmosphere manipulation… fits the profile. All this Remnant tech is connected to one another. If we can activate the surrounding sites, it might lead us to a ‘master switch’ as it were. You can see the other sites from here, actually.”

“Why do I get the feeling you just want me to activate these monoliths for you?”

“Hey, we both get what we want in the end!” She grinned, “Take my navpoints, and here’s my communications channel. Let me know if you’re able to crack the codes. And be careful, this planet’s all kinds of strange.”

Sara felt like she should thank her lucky stars for the Nomad. It made quick work of the rocky terrain and they were able to outrun a lot of Kett. The planet would be beautiful, if not for being so deadly. 

_“Sara? It’s Kallo.”_

She smiled a little as his voice came over the coms, “Hey Kal. What’s up?”

_“Everything’s fine back here. How does Eos look?”_

“Ah, aside from all the bodies and Kett around this would be a great summer retreat.”

_“It’s too bad the Nexus never went back for the bodies. Maybe we can get them to return now that you’re looking at outpost options.”_

“Could do with a few more waterfalls.”

_“Missing Sur’Kesh already?”_

“One of us has to.”

Suddenly Vetra opened the coms to the entire crew, including those throughout the Tempest. “Alright that’s it, there’s a story between you two and I want to know what it is.”

 _“Wait wait, I got it!”_ Liam cut in over the coms, _“Alright here it is: Secret lovers back in the Milky Way who couldn’t tell anyone about their relationship, so they joined the Andromeda Initiative to start new lives. However one was assigned to the Hyperion, the other to the Nexus, and they’ve been waiting for each other ever since. Classic romance vid.”_

Sara gasped, “That’s a fantastic story! Why didn’t we think of that?”

 _“We’re Engineers,”_ Kallo chuckled, _“not storytellers.”_

“In another life perhaps. You can tell them.”

 _“Sara and I were among an elite team chosen to design and build the Tempest back in the Milky Way.”_ Kallo explained, _“We were both recruited by the Initiative for the project a few years before launch. We’ve known each other for a long time.”_

“You never mentioned that!” Cora exclaimed with surprise, “I thought your father recruited you.”

“Never came up.” Sara shrugged.

 _“Sara was handpicked by Jien Garson for the project.”_ Kallo told them with an audible smirk in his voice, _“We needed a Mathematician and back home, she was one of the best in the field.”_

“Shut up, it was nothing special. You were handpicked too if you recall.”

_“You graduated college with five degrees.”_

“Kal—”

_“When you were Nineteen! That’s comparatively younger than a lot of Salarians!”_

“That’s true, but--”

_“Don’t believe her humble disposition guys. Her calculations are the reason the Tempest is able to move at its current speeds, thirteen light years per day; back in the Milky Way the Tempest was one of the fastest ships ever created, never would have happened without her work.”_

“Kal I know you’re trying to make me feel better—”

_“It’s working, I know it is.”_

Sara began to refuse the thought, but she held her tongue trying to figure out a response. When she had none, she sighed heavily; she could never lie to him and expect to get away with it. “…Ass.”

_“HA!”_

_“So that’s why I recognized your name!”_ Suvi suddenly exclaimed, _“Tar’Van’s School for Gifted Children, right?”_

“…Can we change the topic please?” She sighed again, very embarrassed. 

“Aww, she’s blushing!” Vetra chuckled.

 _“Mission accomplished, good job guys.”_ Kallo laughed, _“Our Pathfinder is human after all!”_

“You’re all assholes.” She muttered, still blushing furiously. 

“I think we’re making a breakthrough with her.” Cora smirked, leaving many of them laughing.

After everything, things felt just a little more normal.

-

After a long day of gathering glyphs, fighting Kett and meeting a rather blunt Krogan named Drack, the group returned to the Tempest with, thankfully, only scrapes and bruises. Sara spent a little time checking on the crew, but she quickly disappeared into her room to begin working on the glyphs. She was tired, but sleep was something she felt she likely wouldn’t get. She was rather glad for that, in fact, as Kallo eventually came to see her

“I’d heard about the rebellions.” Sara mentioned as they had some tea. Kallo could see the strain in her eyes. She was curled up into the couch, an obvious unconscious reflex to protect herself, even in her own quarters. He didn’t blame her.

“It was inevitable.” He shook his head, “600 year jump and the first thing we hit was the Scourge.” She noticed him slipping back into memory, his eyes glazing over, staring at everything and nothing. “The other Pathfinder ships, all of Bravo division… They all died in minutes. I don’t know how I managed to survive that but… they died screaming.”

She reached forward to touch his hand in an effort to pull him out of his memories. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“Yeah.” He sighed, “Everything was in shambles, a lot of people died. And our new leadership were not prepared to take on their roles.”

“You mean Tann?”

“Tann.” He nodded, “No golden worlds, food and water running out, families kept in stasis, weak leadership. It was too much for a lot of people. They rebelled, and they were kicked off the station.”

“You didn’t want to go with them?”

“No, I was too busy training new pilots, looking for water sources. It’s been a pain in the cloaca let me tell you.”

“But you survived.”

“Yeah.” He took a sip, shifted his position, “What about you huh? A SAM implant? Habitat 7?”

“Ha.” She deadpanned, “Where to begin. My father convinced me of the implant to monitor my health during the jump. There was too much risk of something happening due to 1033 so I agreed. He told me I could have it removed once we got here… you see how that worked out.”

“Bastard.”

“Yup. He is convinced that SAM can help with GH-1033, can cure me somehow. He thought it would with mom too, he tried to keep that hidden but I’ve always known the truth. He couldn’t save her and he can’t save me. Nothing can save me right now, maybe in centuries but… I don’t have centuries.”

“You could go back into stasis.” Kallo muttered quietly, as if he was afraid to say the words.

“What, and live without you or Scott? Not a chance. You’re stuck with me.” The two laughed together as if they’d never been apart. It was endlessly comforting. 

“And Habitat 7?”

She groaned loudly, grabbing a pillow to wrap her arms around, her face half buried in it. “A goddamn disaster. I shot living creatures Kal. I killed them.”

“To protect the Hyperion.”

“Doesn’t make it any easier.” She shook her head, “And that Remnent tech, it tried to kill us. It was an Engineer’s dream in there but… god, I don’t know what’s going to happen. I can’t believe he made me Pathfinder. This is not what I signed on for.”

“None of us signed up for this.” Kallo told her, “But we’re here. We’re going to make the most of it, and now we have each other. We can do this.”

That generated a smile from her, a genuine smile. She uncurled from her ball just a little bit. “Well we have to start by cracking these glyphs. I’m hoping Mathematics really does transcend Galaxies.” Kallo grinned and moved in next to her to assist. “See this sequence here? It’s the first in the line but easily the most complex, and that influences the connected sequences...”

-

As the days passed, the crew began to get to know each other. Sara remained a little more reclusive, working hard with SAM on the algorithms. In the end it was Kallo who dragged her into being social and convinced her to take her breaks.

“Ever since I met Kallo, he never really smiled. You know, a real smile.” Vetra told her once over casual conversation, “He always looked so stressed out and distracted, even when he was trying to be optimistic. But since you got here I don’t think he’s _stopped_ smiling. You’re a good influence on him.”

Sara laughed, “Honestly Vetra, I think it’s the other way around.”

Liam was as supportive as he always was; he accepted her firm refusal of alcohol, letting her brew her tea and wanting to know her story. He seemed to know exactly when she needed inane chatter about nothing to distract her and was never offended when she didn’t respond.

She and Suvi worked together on the algorithms more often than not. Gil tried to help but eventually left it to them; over time they were figuring out the sequences. Turned out that Mathematics really did apply there as it would anywhere else.

Cora was the only one who seemed to be avoiding her. That was fair, but after a few days Sara knew she needed to check on her second in command. She had set up shop in the biolab, and was rather furiously rearranging her personal items. She wouldn’t look at Sara.

“Nice place in here.”

“Clean air, plants. Helps me think.” She muttered.

“Is there… something bothering you?”

Cora sighed and, using her biotics, she kicked one of the items across the room. “Maybe.” Sara didn’t even flinch. After all she’d grown up with Scott, a powerful biotic in his own right. “Sorry, I… don’t usually lose it like that.”

“You’re angry, I get it.” Sara shrugged, “I am too.”

“You--” Cora was visibly holding in a groan, “Look, I don’t want a rival. I just want answers. I trained for years to be your father’s second, but then he goes and chooses you? An untrained non-combatant with this huge mess to fix?” She scratched at her hair, pacing away from Sara. “The hell was he thinking?”

“He was thinking about himself.” Sara told her, “As per usual.”

Cora gave her a side-eyed glance, “You don’t seem to have that high of an opinion of your father, Sara.”

“I grew up with him. It’s easy to idolize someone when you don’t know the hidden shit, but kids see everything.”

It seemed like Cora didn’t really have an answer for her. She let out a slow, calming breath, “Well… It’s done. Best I can do now is be your second, keep the mission going.”

Sara pressed her lips tight; she knew what had gone down immediately. “Look, my father can be… well, outwardly he’s persuasive and endearing, he gets people dreaming. He’s a great man, a fantastic mentor, an icon. But… that doesn’t mean he can handle it. The lies and deceptions, the disregard for how others perceive situations, the one-tracked mind, this has been common throughout my life with him. He can’t deal with his emotions or his problems so he hides from them. And in the end, it ends up screwing over those that surround him.” Sara stood straight, “I know he’s trying to change now that we’re in Andromeda and I’m happy to start giving him that chance, but it’s too late in some aspects. You have every right to be betrayed, I’m feeling just as betrayed right now believe me. I just can’t say I’m surprised this happened. I’m really sorry that you got swept up in his front.” Cora didn’t answer her, “If you need anything, even to just rant about it, all you have to do is ask.”

As she began to leave, Cora turned around, “You say all that, but you’re still giving him a chance to change?”

“Of course I am.” She smiled, “I can recognize his flaws while still remembering his nicer qualities, knowing that he cares even if he has a hard time showing it. Being critical of him doesn’t mean I hate him, that’s never been the case. I’m angry sure, but… I can’t hate him.”

Cora didn’t respond, so Sara left her to her thoughts and hoped her father hadn’t done too much damage to any of them.


	14. Practice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara has a long way to go, but she is determined to do well as Pathfinder for the sake of her crew.

It took a week to work out the algorithms. A lot of sleepless nights and full days working on the sequences until they were cracked. Sara quite literally ran to tell Kallo the news, sliding and tripping into the Bridge on her way. She and Suvi were both extremely proud of themselves; they’d solved a huge Andromeda mystery. 

After contacting Peebee and running into Drack again along their way, they entered in the sequences to their according Monoliths. Each sent visible energy waves to a middle ground, a large lake, and with a roar the entrance to the Vault emerged from the water. 

It reignited Sara’s natural brazen curiosity; she was the first one in, and when the Gravity Well opened up she jumped right down the hole without any hesitation. Vetra tried to yell at her for being reckless but stopped when she saw the look on Sara’s face; one of absolute delight.

“Look at these halls!” She gasped, examining every inch, “Laser precision, the carving tools would need to be the size of a large shuttle to carve through the rock like this. And look at these markings, so perfectly preserved. If we could come to a full understanding of the language it’s possible to unearth new mathematical conversions, that’s not been done since the First Contact War!”

“Someone’s enjoying herself.” Liam chuckled as he examined everything she did. “I don’t understand half of what you’re suggesting but it sounds good.”

Sara was positively giddy, “Oh I could spend the rest of my life studying this! If we can really harness this power, understand the technology…”

“It could push us ahead centuries.” Peebee agreed.

“We do this safely though.” Sara nodded, “We’re not ending up like my father because we made some stupid error.”

They moved through the caverns and hallways with extreme caution. They did manage to find the central chamber, along with a rolling death cloud they barely outran. The galaxy map it produced made the danger worth it; the locations of vaults on other worlds, with one in particular that was lit up as if it was active. Sara immediately set the navpoint; they needed to investigate, and Peebee was so excited about that that she asked to join in on the hunt. Well, more like she said she was going and Sara knew she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

 _“The radiation levels are beginning to decline.”_ Suvi’s amazed voice came over coms, _“Whatever you did worked.”_

 _“Sara jumped into a hole she wasn’t supposed to jump into, didn’t she?”_ A deadpan Kallo followed.

“You know me so well.” Sara laughed and Kallo grumbled about her recklessness; both Vetra and Liam noted that she seemed a lot more relaxed than she had been before. 

All that was left to do was call in a new Outpost. With the Kett thinned out and the radiation levels dropping the space and supplies was absolutely critical. They found a nice little valley with a small lake that had significantly lower radiation levels than much of the remaining landscape. It was pure dumb luck that they ran into Drack for a third time, and this time Vetra convinced him that he would be an asset to the Pathfinder team. Two new crewmates and a scientific Outpost, Prodromos; Sara grinned bright and wide, there was finally something to really inspire hope.

It would take awhile for the Outpost to be operational, for a population to be brought out of Cryo and for housing to be set up. Sara and her crew helped out the first day, then left the planet for their next endeavor. They needed to restock their supplies for the extra crew and Sara would admit to being worried about Scott.

Though she would very soon some to know just how astronomically high the odds were that she would get a message from her father not an hour after leaving the planet which simply read:

_“Sara,_

_Scott has woken up._

_We’ve heard about Prodromos. He wants to see you. Probably punch you too. Bring armor.”_

_\- Dad”_

Sara laughed in amazement and informed Kallo when he heard said laughter. What were the odds? The timing was almost too perfect. All things considered, she’d been getting extremely lucky. So was Scott, apparently, as soon after she got a letter from Harry regarding his true shock at how quickly Scott had woken up.

As soon as they landed in the Nexus Sara quite literally ran to the trams. It was a short ride to the Hyperion and an even shorter walk to the med bay. As she entered she noticed her father was still confined to bed, but was talking to an awake and attentive Scott.

“Scotty!”

Her brother jumped in surprise upon hearing her voice, but instantly grinned wider than she’d ever seen.

“Sara!” He pushed himself to the edge of the bed and swung his legs over the side, hugging her tightly when she reached him. She very briefly checked on her father, who was smiling warmly at the both of them, before taking a seat next to Scott. He threw an arm over her shoulders. 

“Dad said you were going to punch me.”

“Thought about it.” He shrugged, “Ended up yelling at him for ten minutes and that was enough.”

“Fully deserved.” Alec admitted, sitting up in his own bed. “We heard about Prodromos. Is Eos all we’d hoped?”

Sara shrugged, “No one can fault it for being ugly. The rock formations are stunning. But the radiation hazard is problematic… We did find one of those towers again, we call them Remnent. It led to this underground Vault and when activated it began to repair the atmosphere.”

“So Habitat 7 wasn’t an isolated planet.”

“Nope.”

Scott squeezed her shoulder briefly, “You didn’t hurt yourself did you?”

“No Scotty, I’m just fine.” She smiled, “I’ve got a good team with me. You know I found Kallo? He’s piloting the Tempest still, it was the only ship that survived when the Nexus hit the Scourge. What are the odds right?”

“Hmm.” Scott scowled a little, “Excuse me for not being comfortable without seeing it for myself, but at least you found him. A friend of yours is a friend of mine, you know that.”

“The Nexus briefed me on the last fourteen months.” Alec mentioned, “I’m not sure about this new leadership.”

“You wouldn’t be the only one.” Sara sighed, rubbing her temples, “I need to go meet with them soon. Kesh and Tiran are good at what they do but Tann and Addison? Talk about political bullshit. I don’t know how they get anything done.”

“It’s a good thing the Pathfinder has crisis permissions.”

“Absolutely. We need to head deeper into Heleus to investigate the Remnent, it might be the only way to make these worlds livable. Luckily I don’t need their authority to do that.”

Scott sighed, “I’d join you now but I’ve been placed on…” He glanced towards Harry, who was working with another patient, “bed arrest for a few days. Think you can make some room for me when they decide to let me go?”

Sara grinned at her brother, “Absolutely. There’s always a place for you.”

“After you’ve healed.” Alec told him sternly, “I’m not nearly losing both of my children in the span of three weeks, you hear me?”

“Yes sir.” Scott laughed, “I think I should be more concerned about my sister though. Technically she’s the one that can fire me now.”

“And don’t you forget it.” The three laughed together for the first time in a long time, and until that moment Sara didn’t realize just how much she’d needed to hear it.

-

Sara had managed to find time to speak to Lexi through all the chaos. It seemed Harry was staying on the Hyperion permanently, but Sara knew Lexi could be trusted. They agreed to meet once a week and after every mission she went on, doors closed so that no one else on the Tempest could listen in on them.

“Harry sent me everything he possibly could about GH-1033. I read through it all three times.” Lexi told her, “I’m going to do my best for you, I promise.”

“You’re doing fine Lexi.” Sara told her with an easy smile, “Really, I don’t even expect anything to happen, not for years yet.”

“Well I’m here to make sure it doesn’t.” Lexi told her. “No change in your symptoms?”

“None.”

“And you’ve been giving your medication for the next month?”

“Yup.”

“Good. Does anyone else on the Tempest know?”

“Just Kallo.” Sara told her, “But I trust him implicitly, he’s not one to snitch. I’d rather that the others not know about it, with all this shit going on you know?”

“You want to give them hope.”

“Of course.” She nodded, “And hope doesn’t mix well with finding out their Pathfinder is dying. Better they don’t know about it.”

Lexi nodded firmly, scribbling down some quick notes. “You’re surprisingly at peace with this Sara.”

She laughed lightly, “Am I? It’s been natural for me. I’ve feared pain and hospitals and doctors and everything in between, back when I was little and it felt like everything in the world was so much bigger than me. But I’ve never been afraid to die. The rest I fought over time until I didn’t fear pain or doctors anymore. There are much worse things in life than those.”

Lexi smiled at her, “That’s a very mature way of looking at the situation. I don’t know many who could do the same.” She set down her clipboard, having gathered all the notes she needed. “It won’t leave my lips. You have my word.”

-

Sara was rather grateful to be headed back to Prodromos before moving further into the Cluster. Tann was a pain in the ass to deal with and she was thoroughly annoyed. How she’d continue to deal with him she didn’t know, she figured she’d figure it out over time. She thought they’d go back to Prodromos to help out a little more before moving on. There was something she wanted to do.

In just a few days the radiation levels had dropped considerably. It needed more time but it was safe enough to leave the Outposts limits a little bit. They took some time to help Bradley and the arriving colonists, then Sara took her gun, armor and some used cans and headed out away from the Outpost by herself.

She used a silencer, and got far enough away so that she wouldn’t scare the colonists. Then she set up the cans and got a good distance away to practice her sniping. She didn’t feel that the still targets would be too helpful, but she had no other ideas. She’d missed enough shots inside the Vault and the last thing she needed was to slow down the team. She needed to improve, and quickly.

She wasn’t too sure how long she was out there, shooting the cans over and over again. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know. Aside from a check-in call from Kallo she just let the time roll by, using it to both practice and let herself think without others around. The sun was high in the sky before anyone was within any radius of her.

Drack and Vetra crested the hill, calling out to her so that they wouldn’t startle her while she had a gun in her hands. She waved briefly and they approached. Sara hadn’t had too much time to speak to either of them quite yet, but she’d learned a few things. The knowledge that Drack was Kesh’s 1400 year old grandfather should have shocked her but honestly, after all the shit on Habitat 7 she could not be shocked so easily. Hearing about Vetra’s little sister Sid gave her an immediately attachment to the Turian, and they all got on well.

“Hey kid, Nexus is lookin’ for you.” Drack told her. Vetra sat in the rocks beside her, looking at the still cans she’d been shooting at. 

“Why else would I be out here?” She joked, firing off another shot that unfortunately missed. She sighed heavily and re-aimed. It seemed to her that both of them immediately caught on but were rather unsure of how to ask her about it. 

“Still cans won’t help you much in a firefight.” Vetra mentioned after a moment. Sara fired off another shot.

“I know.” She muttered, lowering the gun just a little. 

“Let me guess. Thrown into the fight without any training or experience?” Drack asked her.

“Something like that.” Sara nodded, “I’m a damn Mathematician. I don’t really know how to shoot guns. A shooting range doesn’t prepare you for the real thing. I can handle the puzzles and the engineering and the strategy but I can’t shoot, can’t follow through, can’t inspire. Pretty pathetic for a Pathfinder huh?” She took another shot. “A leader who’s never been taught to lead.”

“Ah, shooting ain’t that hard once you learn it.”

“That’s why I’m trying here. I can’t allow myself to be a liability, it’ll just get people killed.”

“Hmm.” Drack was quiet for a moment before clapping her on the back, “Save your bullets and sit tight kid.” He told her, “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Drack began to make his way back to the Tempest as Sara moved to sit beside Vetra. She was staying behind to wait with Sara.

“So you’re really good at acquiring items for people huh?”

“Part of the job, Pathfinder.” She smiled.

Sara smiled back, “Kallo’s told me a thing or two. I wouldn’t mind you finding an item for me if there’s something you’d like in return.”

Vetra laughed lightly, “You’re part of the crew, and you’re job’s hard enough. What do you need?”

“A boxing bag.” Sara told her, “A real one; heavy, sturdy, with chains that can hold it. Any chance you could get one?”

Vetra shrugged her shoulders, “Easy enough, I’ll ask around. Workouts?”

“It would be nice, yes. Boxing is a great workout, clears my mind. What can I get for you in exchange?”

Vetra pat her shoulder, “You don’t need to get me anything. Just keep doing what you do, make something out of all this mess, like you did here on Eos. That’s payment enough.”

“I can do that.” She chuckled, “Thanks Vetra.”

“Anytime.” Vetra shifted and took Sara’s sniper, looking it over, unloading the empty clip for her, looking down the sights. “Kallo talked about you once. Never said your name but he told me about you. Seems rather fond of you, in fact.”

“He’s my best friend for a reason.” Vetra noticed that Sara’s eyes brightened, just a little, “Kallo’s photographic memory makes it hard for him to let go. He focuses on his work sure, but for him his memories just replay over and over again, like he’s still back there. As if he’s still on Sur’Kesh or the Citadel. Sometimes you just need to let him talk it out you know. Other times you have to snap him out of it. Thanks for listening, at the time I’m sure he needed it.”

“I remember you said he’s a good influence on you when I brought it up.”

“Yeah.” Sara chuckled, “He understands.” Vetra glanced over and saw a look on her face, just for a split second, that she couldn’t quite place. “Plus he puts up with me, I mean that takes a lot in it of itself.”

Vetra laughed, “I’m sure the rest of us will figure something out.”

Drack crested the hill again, but this time he was accompanied by much of the crew, some guns, targets and ammo. A lot of ammo. He was carrying a bag as well filled with something she couldn’t immediately see.

Without a word Drack and Cora went out into the rocks opposite from the targets that Liam was beginning to set up. 

“What’s the occasion?” Sara asked.

“Drack offered to teach us how to shoot.” Suvi explained, “Gil and I agreed to learn the basics. If something happens it’s a good skill to know, especially with all the Kett around. Liam, Cora and Peebee came to help.”

“Huh.” She looked at Kallo, who looked slightly nervous about the guns but was being as respectful and supportive all the same. “You too Kal?”

“No, no way.” He laughed, “Figured I’d come and cheer you guys on though.”

Drack contacted her via her Tool then, “Alright kid, we’re going to give you some decent targets. Harper and I are going to throw these up into the air, just try and hit them as best you can.”

“I… okay.” 

Vetra took a moment to give her some slight corrections on how she was holding the gun. Liam and Peebee took Suvi and Gil over to the targets with pistols, while Sara took aim.

She saw the targets Drack was talking about, large packages and cans, anything that they could throw and she could see through the sights. Sara tried to shoot them as they flew through the air, and she missed every shot. 

Vetra took it upon herself to collect the packages while Drack coached her on her aiming. Again they had another round and, again, Sara missed them all.

It did help her to know that Gil and Suvi needed a lot of training too. They weren’t anymore adept than she was. So she kept at it, kept trying to shoot the flying targets; some went high, others went low, and she continued to miss.

“Keep at it kid, you’ll get it!” Drack and Cora sounded optimistic, while Kallo gave her quieter encouragements from the background. Sara was determined to not give up until she hit one of the damn things. So she kept trying, and trying, until finally one of them deviated from their path.

“You grazed that one!” Cora told her with an audible grin.

“That’s it kid, you’re getting better!” It was like a second wind, and Sara kept trying. 

Finally, she hit one of the packages dead on. The package burst into fire and smoke, a lot like a firework, with a great crackling sound that made her grin. “Good job Sara!” Her crew cheered before returning to their own practices. Sara was getting the hang of it, her hands got steadier, her reactions just a little bit faster. Then she hit another package, and another. Drack even threw a large bug into the air; Sara didn’t manage to hit it, but it did make her laugh.

By the time she’d hit the last package, the sun was beginning to set. They were all tired, but grinning and laughing with one another. They returned to the Tempest with a better grasp on each other’s personalities, their humors.

They stayed on Eos for three days just to practice, just to learn. To prepare themselves for the jump deeper into the Cluster, not knowing what they’d find there. To build up the much needed confidence. On the third day they even hit a camp the Kett had set up near Prodromos, and Drack made a point of driving them out of cover for Sara to practice. She wondered if she should be becoming numb to death.

She asked Drack that question after the third day, as everyone was winding down and it was just them in the Galley with leftovers from dinner. 

“Hell no.” He told her in all seriousness. “The day you become numb to killing people is the day something is seriously wrong with you. You have to learn to accept it, and accept yourself for doing it. You can’t solve every problem with diplomacy. You remember why you’re fighting.”

“Really?”

“Kid, when you get to be my age you learn how to let it go. Trust me, you have to let the guilt go.”

“… Alright. I’ll work on that.” She smiled, “Thanks old man.”

“‘Old Man’ huh?”

“You call me kid, I call you old man.” Drack laughed heartily.

“You and I are going to get along just fine kid.”

-

“Hello, Gil? When are you cleaning up that repair on the sensor console?”

Sara slowed down a little, listening to Kallo talk. Gil’s voice came in over the coms. 

_“I’m not. It’s a redesign.”_ Gil told him. Kallo’s face shifted, something she easily caught.

“A redesign? Without a trained crew?”

_“I’m trained, and it’s working great. Don’t be so uptight.”_

Kallo sighed as Gil shut off the coms, scratching at one of his horns.

“Everything okay Kal?” Sara asked, moving up to the navigational console. 

“Hmm?” He looked up, having not noticed her there before. “Oh, that. It’s fine, don’t worry about it.”

Sara cocked a brow, knowing the tone, not fully believing it but deciding not to push it just yet. “Alright…” She selected the navpoint she wanted; it was time to find that active vault. “We ready for the jump?”

“All systems green,” Kallo told her, “waiting for your signal.”

“Lets go then. Into the breach!”

Kallo sent the Tempest into FTL, bright blue surrounding the ship as it moved through space. She always thought FTL was gorgeous and hypnotizing to look at.

Kallo gasped suddenly, “We’re on a collision course with unknown objects!”

“Make corrections.” Sara told him immediately as they started to experience turbulence. “SAM, are you on this?”

**“Collision is imminent.”**

“All stop, NOW!”


	15. First Contact

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Tempest moves deeper into the Heleus cluster, straight into dangerous unknowns and a sudden first contact that none of them were truly prepared for.

“All stop, NOW!”

The Tempest came to a sudden halt, quite nearly throwing Sara off her feet. FTL stopped and before their eyes, they were face to face with a ship so massive is rivaled their own Arks, surrounded by many smaller ships. All they could do was stare as Sara backed herself away from the window, just a little bit. “My god…”

“Kett ships. A dozen— no, more!” The guns on the big ship began to swivel to face them.

“They’ve got us pinned against the Scourge!” Kallo reported.

**“They are scanning us, Pathfinder.”**

“Well…” Sara ran a hand through her hair, unsure of what to do, “Scan them back!”

The alarms were set off throughout the ship, and the crew was spurred into action. They ran for the Bridge to find out what was going on just as they were contacted by the large ship; a Kett appeared on the screen before them.

 _“Where is the one who activated the Remnant?”_

Sara sucked in a breath as Cora and Liam came up behind her. Liam tried to step in but Cora stopped him. Sara had to handle this.

 _“Their DNA signature is there. We have heard your name.”_ His armor signaled to Sara that he must have been a Kett leader. She didn’t want to fathom what they’d done to learn their language. He glared when she was silent. _“Sara Ryder. Answer me or be destroyed.”_

If being stopped didn’t scare her enough, the fact that he knew her name, the way he said it, made her want to run. However she swallowed that fear, held it all in, and took a deep breath.

“Alright.” She said, stepping forward. “I’m here. What do you want?”

The Kett looked her up and down without emotion. _“You’ll come with me.”_

“They’ve locked navigation!”

She felt the pull on the ship as Kallo tried to regain control, “We’re being steered into their ship.”

“Whoa whoa whoa!” Sara glared at him, “You want me that’s fine, but you leave my crew out of this understand?”

_“I do not take orders from a lesser being. And I refuse to explain what you cannot understand.”_

**_“Sara, I have almost regained control of the ship.”_** SAM’s voice came over their private channel, **_“I need a few more seconds.”_**

Sara sucked in another breath, “I actually know a lot about the Remnant. We should compare notes.”

 _“Enough.”_ It was the first time she saw even a hint of emotion on his face, _“Your defiance is naive and reckless. This day marks the beginning of your greatness.”_

At that moment all of their controls came back online, and the coms channel was cut off. “SAM?”

**“I have plotted a potential course through the Scourge.”**

“Do it. Do it Kallo!”

Kallo spun the ship around with laser accuracy, speeding off with the Kett right on their trail. Almost immediately one hit the Scourge and exploded. The Tempest swerved back and forth avoiding the Scourge at every turn, trying to push through it. The second Kett ship was not so lucky as it too was destroyed by a tendril. 

**“It will be tight.”**

“Kallo…”

A moment later they punched through a hole, flames following them out and into open space. They were out of the Scourge. “Yes!” As the flames died everyone let out a huge sigh of relief, allowing themselves the realization that they’d survived.

“Ha-ha! Nice work kid!” Drack praised a rather shocked Kallo, who didn’t have an answer for him.

“Yes, very well done.” Sara gave him an encouraging smile, and she saw him calm slightly, “Just one question. Who the hell was that guy?”

No one had an answer for her. The only voice she got was Gil’s, frantically informing her that they needed to land immediately. As luck would have it, they had ended up at the vaults coordinates, a planet they could hopefully land on.

As they began their decent to the planet, Suvi took a double take at her monitors. “We’re being… contacted?” She said, squinting.

“We have to land. Open a com.”

Suvi did as Sara ordered. A strange voice came over the coms as ships she’d never seen before surrounded the Tempest. _“Tove jagalesh do!”_ Everyone looked at each other, unsure of what to do or say. Then they looked to Sara for her direction. _“Tove jagalesh do!”_

Sara breathed, “We’re visitors from another Galaxy. Our intentions are peaceful.” She made a point to sound as non-threatening as possible.

After a moment, they reacted and Kallo looked to his controls, “They’ve sent us a nav point.”

“Set us down.” She nodded. They flew on over lava and flames before the smoke parted, where they were met with green plants and huge waterfalls, with many buildings that honestly reminded her of Sur’Kesh. They set down the ship where they were guided, and Kallo powered down the ship for repairs to be done.

Sara sighed, “We need in that vault.”

“What?” Kallo’s head jerked to her with a confused and concerned look on his face, “You’re going out there? Alone?”

She shook her head and moved to the door, “We cant afford a repeat of last time. I’m the Pathfinder; first contact is on me.”

“Most important thing ever.” Liam laughed, “No pressure.”

“Hey, relax! This will be your average, everyday first ever contact with an alien species we’ve never seen before. Completely normal.” She walked to the door, but before she could go through she turned around with a nervous smile on her face, “If this goes badly; if I get eaten alive, even if it’s hilarious; please destroy the vids.”

Sara disembarked the Tempest with her hands raised above her head. She was met with strange aliens in armor and carrying guns who surrounded her cautiously. She kept her hands up as one of them scanned her top to bottom. “Thank you.” She muttered with a smile, trying to look as non-threatening as possible.

With a gesture, the guards pushed her to move across the bridge and into this city. It was beautiful, with green plants and flora, the air was fresh and clean and there were many of these beings around. Some seemed curious, others seemed angry. All eyes were on her as she was brought through their city.

Sara was led up many stairs to a building. Upon stepping inside, it looked like a museum to her; small but with interesting artifacts that she’d have loved to look into. However there wasn’t any time as she was met by what appeared to be a female; she was the first to smile at Sara, and she waved the guards away. They backed up to cover the doors, and Sara slowly lowered her hands.

The female had blue skin and elegant dress. She spoke slowly to Sara in words she didn’t understand; the confusion must have registered. “I-I’m sorry, I don’t understand you.”

The woman stopped and looked around, seemingly trying to figure out a way to communicate. Sara had noticed that the Angara used similar vocal chords and syllables to form their words, so that was something. Perhaps they could make a baseline.

The woman recaptured her attention eagerly. Then she gestured to herself, patting her chest; “Angara.” She sounded out the word for Sara, continuing to gesture at herself. Then she pointed at the guard closest to her, “Angara.”

Sara squinted, “… Angara?” She repeated, a little sloppily but it came across alright. The woman seemed excited that she’d been able to repeat the word. Sara pointed to her, “Angara.” Nod. She pointed to a guard to her left, “Angara?” Another nod, she was getting somewhere. To make sure she pointed at a third alien, “Angara?” A third nod. She understood; the people were called the Angara.

Then Sara gestured to herself, “Human.” She sounded out the word as the woman had done for her.

“Human.” She repeated, and Sara grinned; it wasn’t perfect but she understood Sara’s meaning.

“Human!” 

_**“Sara, I am unable to create a database without being detected.”**_ SAM told her in private, **_“I would need the assistance of a linguist.”_**

Sara knew she wouldn’t get far with them. She had no training in this field; she needed someone who did. Slowly Sara raised her arm and activated her Tool; the guards raised their guns with worry, but the woman did not seem concerned, brushing their guns away. “Guys, I need an ETA on the ship repairs.”

Gil’s voice came back, _“Five minutes and she’ll be good to fly.”_

“Alright.” Sara breathed, knowing what she needed to do, “Here’s the game plan. I need you guys to fly the Tempest back to the Nexus to pick up a linguist. Tell Tann we need the best they have, I don’t care if the best is in cryo I need them here now. Restock as well, just for safety’s sake. We might be stuck here awhile.”

 _“What about you?”_ Kallo asked her with noticeable concern in his voice. 

“I’ll stay. Retain the small amount of trust they’ve given me. Seems they’re willing to speak and they won’t shoot us on sight, but I don’t have the training for this.”

 _“…Okay.”_ Kallo sighed, _“We’ll be back quickly, don’t worry.”_

“I’m not worried.” She smiled and glanced at the woman, who continued to smile and spoke with a few of the guards as they waited, “Not in the slightest.”

-

Kallo was not comfortable with this plan, not in the slightest. He didn’t like leaving her alone on the strange planet with those strange people, but he had no other ideas. 

Kallo flew them back to the Nexus as quickly as possible. He noticed that feeling in his chest again, welling up and even a little bit painful, very similar to what he’d felt back in the Milky Way when Sara left for Earth. He still couldn’t place the feeling, but he couldn’t help the worry over her safety. The pain felt like a lot more than worry.

What he did notice was the intense surge of protectiveness that had welled up inside him when that Kett had said Sara’s name. He’d never really felt anything like that before, the absolute need to protect someone like his own life depended on it. It was strange and foreign; he should count his lucky stars that no one had noticed the look on his face. He would have done absolutely anything to get her away from him.

As they got close to the Nexus, they were informed that the best linguist they had had never been awoken from Cryo due to the immediate failed contact attempts with the Kett. It would take some time to wake her and check her out for stasis sickness, but they would try to hurry. In that time they began to restock in the event they were stuck on that planet for awhile.

As Kallo oversaw the supplies they were getting, a man in armor with a gun and a duffel bag approached the ship, looking it over with amazement. “Excuse me?” The man caught Kallo’s attention; something about him was instantly familiar. “Is this the Tempest?”

“Yes.” 

The man smiled and showed Kallo a document from his Tool; the name Scott Ryder flashed. “I’ve been officially reinstated on the Pathfinder team.”

“Scott Ryder… Sara’s brother?” The man nodded. He seemed to have a strong air about him, confident and sturdy, and incredibly calm and level headed. “Welcome aboard. Sara’s told me a thing or two about you.” Kallo shook Scott’s hand.

“Huh… You wouldn’t happen to be Kallo Jath would you?”

“That’s me.”

“I see.” He grinned, “Well Sara’s told me a thing or two about you as well. Good to meet you.” He glanced around, “Where’s my sister? Is she on the ship?”

“She’s…” Kallo sighed, “On another planet at the moment. We came across an alien race that wasn’t the Kett. She insisted we return to the Nexus to pick up a linguist. She didn’t sound at all frightened of them.”

“I see.” He sighed, “Well, mind if I drop off my stuff?”

“Yeah, go ahead. We’ll be lifting off in a few minutes.”

Scott made his way on board, and Kallo briefly thought that he was very pleasant; he knew that Sara would be far more at ease with him on board, and that was enough for him. Soon enough the linguist, an Asari, arrived, and the Tempest lifted off again.

Kallo began steering them back to the planet; the long way around this time, to ensure they didn’t run into the Kett again. As he flew Scott had made his way up to the Bridge. He was out of his armor and was looking around, pretty amazed with what he saw. He stepped up to the Pathfinder’s navigational panel; it didn’t react to him as it did to Sara.

“Wow.” He said, “So this is where my sister plays Queen huh? Not a bad setup.” He smiled, “Can’t wait to see her face.”

“Did she tell you about building the ship?” Kallo asked.

“Absolutely. She was so proud, still is. Proud of you and the team too. I don’t think there’s anywhere she’d rather be than this ship.” The ship entered the system, moving towards the planet. “Is that it? Doesn’t look very habitable.”

“It is, in some areas.” Kallo breathed out a sigh, hoping she was still alright out there, and hoping those aliens hadn’t done anything to her. All he could do was hope.

-

Sara had found these Angara to be rather pleasant. In the time her crew was gone the woman had sat her down next to a window with a view of the waterfalls as they tried to communicate. Sara managed to learn a few things from them; the planet was called Aya, and she learned a few of the names around the room. The linguist was named Lahna De Var, and an Angara that had come in to view their talks a few times was introduced as Jaal Ama Darav. She in turn taught them her name, and showed them images of Turians, Salarians, Asari, other Humans and Krogan while teaching the Angara the corresponding names. It wasn’t much, but it was enough.

SAM informed her that the Tempest had returned to the same docking port. Sara motioned outside towards docking, urging Lahna to take her there. She seemed to understand, and under escort from the guards Lahna followed her out. One of the guards extended the bridge to docking, and an Asari Sara didn’t recognize crossed the bridge. 

“Hello Pathfinder. Linguist Diyxtee D’rodri, at your service.” She greeted her with as much visible respect as possible, a show to the Angara. Sara told her what little she knew. “If you give me access to SAM, I can take it from here.”

“Alright,” Sara nodded, “I’ll escort you.” As the two tried to follow the Angara the guards stopped them; they pointed at Diyxtee, and only her. Sara instinctively stepped in front of her to show them clearly that her safety was Sara’s responsibility.

“I assume they’ll only let one Alien into their city at a time.” Diyxtee hummed, patting Sara’s shoulder, “It’s alright Pathfinder. They did not harm you, I doubt they will harm me. I can handle it from here.”

Sara didn’t like it, but there wasn’t much choice either. “You call me if you need me.” She gave her her frequency and access to SAM, then watched as Diyxtee was led into the city. The guards forced Sara to go back over the bridge, then removed it so that the Tempest, and her crew, were cut off from the city. There was nothing more to do except wait.

She vaguely heard someone step up next to her. “Think it’ll go well?”

Sara sighed, staring into the city. She only spared them a short glance. “No way of knowing.” After a moment Sara did a sudden double take, realizing who was next to her; Scott, who was smirking as she came to the realization. “Scotty?!” She quite nearly tackled him into the ground in a tight hug, rather shocked that he was there. She saw much of the crew over his shoulder, talking amongst themselves and looking at the city. 

They went to the group who all asked her questions about the Angara. Sara didn’t have much for them, and it stayed that way for a solid week. They didn’t leave the planet in that time; Diyxtee came back every so often to eat and sleep. She updated Sara every time she came back, then went to continue working out the language. It was a slow process, but one that needed to be done, despite how restless she and the crew were becoming.

Scott had spent most of his time catching up with everything from Sara. They liked to sit in the corner of the landing pad and talk and no one really wanted to disturb them. However, as Kallo stepped outside for some fresh air, he noticed her sitting there alone.

“You mind?” He asked her when she noticed him approaching. With a shake of her head he sat down beside her. “You and Scott get tired of each other already?”

Sara laughed lightly, “I encouraged him to go and get to know the crew. We’re just sitting on our hands here anyway.” She shrugged, “He’s not really a… people person. He tries but the act drops quickly. Takes after our dad like that.”

Sara was quieter, an immediate tip-off to what Kallo had already suspected. She was watching the fiery tornadoes that ripped across the landscapes so deep in her own thoughts her eyes glazed over. He saw it in her eyes; she was afraid. Perhaps this had been her first real chance to process what had happened only a week earlier. Perhaps that was her true reason for sending Scott away, so he wouldn’t see her like this.

Without a word, Kallo put an arm around her shoulders. She settled into his touch almost immediately; she was cold. She reached up and squeezed his hand a little, as if she needed to convince herself that he was there. Kallo couldn’t help but be reminded of the Geth attack, the fear he’d seen in her eyes then just as prominent now.

“You were scared.” He said quietly, “I know. It’s okay.”

She shook her head slowly, “I haven’t told Scott about what happened yet. When coming to Andromeda being hunted down by an Alien species was not what I expected.”

“You did well in training on Eos. We’ve survived strange aliens trying to kill us before.”

“The Citadel was back in the Milky Way, it was random and none of them spoke to us. This… He knew my name.”

“We made it out.” He reminded her.

“For now. I just… worry about the next time, now that we’ve already been deliberately stopped once. What if…”

“Stop that.” Kallo told her, leaning forward enough to catch her gaze, “Don’t you think like that. He’s just another Kett.” She really did look frightened and shaken just thinking about coming face to face with whoever that leader was. 

“How did he know my name?”

Kallo brought his other hand to her face; he didn’t touch her but it guided her to turn her attention to him and away from everything else, enough to distract her from her fearful ‘what ifs’. “I don’t know Sara, but it doesn’t matter. The Tempest, the crew, you’re safest here. We know we can outrun his ships now. He’s not going to get to you, we won’t let him. _I_ won’t let him. Alright?”

He didn’t quite realize how physically close they’d gotten to each other at first. He’d never been that close to her, not when they were in a safe and peaceful space. Sara seemed to be having a hard time coming up with a response; eventually she opted for a slightly embarrassed laugh and a nod. The fear wasn’t gone, but it had subsided, and that was enough. For a brief moment the protectiveness came back, a strange impulse to keep her safe. He didn’t mention it but he sure felt it; he’d meant what he’d said completely. He wasn’t sure if it showed on his face or not. Kallo gave her a smile and lowered his hand, glad that he could help her in some small way. 

_“Pathfinder? I have some news.”_ Diyxtee’s voice came in over Sara’s Tool; it actually startled her, but she acknowledged their linguist all the same.

“Thanks, Kal. I should— uhm— yeah.” She muttered, releasing Kallo’s hand and moving away from his touch, standing up. “I’ll see you later.” She ran off a lot quicker than normal, leaving him staring after her.

It wasn’t until she’d left that he suddenly realized two things about what had just happened.

One, she had been blushing. Furiously.

Two, he had only one thought racing through his mind: her eyes were stunning.

She was absolutely stunning.

-

It took another two days, but finally Diyxtee appeared at the bridge with a huge smile and what appeared to be a political figure. Diyxtee crossed to give her an update; the Angara remained on the other side.

“We got it.” She nodded, “Thanks to SAM of course. As it turns out their Resistance movement had intelligence from their spies; they’d had portions of the Galactic language filed, pieces that they’d picked up from raided Kett bases and outlawed Angara. I used those portions, filled in the blanks, and we managed a solid translation update. Would have taken months without their spies.”

“Good work, Diyxtee. Can I speak with them now?”

“Yes.” Diyxtee pointed to one of the Angara, “That’s the Governor there. She’ll let you in, but the Angara’s social customs are rather different then ours. They are a people who feel deeply and wear their emotions on their sleeves. We need to be careful and not misread them.”

“Noted.” Sara nodded, taking a deep breath. “Alright. Lets do this.”

Scott grabbed her arm, “You sure? By yourself?”

“Done it once already.” She pat Scott’s arm to comfort him, “Don’t worry.”

Sara straightened her jacket and approached the bridge. The guards let her cross, and their Governor stepped forward to greet her with an air of dignity.

“I am Paaran Shie, Governor of Aya. We are the Angara.”

“I’m Sara Ryder, human Pathfinder with the Andromeda Initiative. We come from the Milky Way Galaxy.”

She nodded, “Yes, I have heard of your journey from your Linguist.” An Angara she recognized as Jaal stepped towards her. “You have met Jaal Ama Darav. He works with our Resistance.”

He stepped again and got right in her face, scanning her expressions. “Aya is hidden. Protected. What do you want?”

Straight to the point. She could respect that. “I apologize,” She told him, “Landing here so suddenly, on fire and without any warning, was not our original plan.”

Jaal smiled, “That’s good to know. If it was, that would have been a very bad plan.” She grinned back at him, and they had a very momentary understanding.

Jaal turned and began to walk away, “I’ll inform Evfra. He’ll be waiting for you in his office at the Resistance Headquarters. I’ll meet you there.”

Paaran Shie waved her forward, “I will accompany you through our city. Your crew will remain in docking. Follow me.” Sara did follow her through the city, asking many questions when allowed. Some Angara seemed welcoming and curious, others seemed rather hostile. She couldn’t blame them for that. The planet reminded her of Earth and Sur’Kesh is many ways; she hoped that one day she could explore it more.

She was led to a large building at the far end of the city. Inside were Angara that looked much more military, it must have been their Resistance. She was greeted by Jaal there; it seemed, from the way other Angara were acknowledging him, that he was very well respected here.

“Our experience with the Kett makes us naturally distrustful of all aliens.” He told her.

“Oh, we’ve had our own run ins with the Kett.” Sara nodded, “First day we got here they killed some of our people. We consider them the enemy.”

“I am pleased to know that you understand. When the Archon came to Heleus, he demolished our Sovereign state- took what he wanted as if we were nothing.”

“Archon…” Sara realized, “Is that their leader?”

“As far as we are aware. They mercilessly abduct Angara. Often, we never see them again. And the Resistance fights them every day with everything we can.”

“I see.” She sighed as Jaal led her through the building, “My brother would have a field day talking strategy against the Kett.”

“Seems you have family as the Angara do.”

“Of course.” Sara smiled, “What’s more important to fight for than that?”

Sara was led to an Angara who was talking strategy and shouting orders, obviously their leader. “Evfra, this is one of the aliens from the Milky Way;” Sara had to hold her breath to not laugh at his pronunciation of her Galaxy, “Sara Ryder. She is a Pathfinder.”

Evfra looked her up and down, “‘Pathfinder’ Hmm. It’s an aggressive move coming to Aya.”

Sara stood her ground, “My people were bold enough to make the journey to Andromeda. Now they are under threat; I must strive to be at least as brave as them to save them.”

Evfra seemed to appreciate her answer, nodding firmly. “So Pathfinder, never mind how you even found us, why are you here?”

“On a planet we call Eos I discovered an ancient structure, a ‘Vault’ of some kind. My team and I brought it back online, and it began to repair the planet’s atmosphere, stabilizing the environment.”

“‘Remnant’.” Jaal hummed, “Recent intelligence supports that claim.”

“If I’m right,” Sara continued, “There’s a Vault here on Aya that’s different, possibly already at least partially active. The vibrancy here supports my theories. I need to look inside and find out why.”

“You are a scholar?” He asked.

“Mathematician, Engineer.” Sara corrected, “And now Pathfinder. I’m just trying to find my people a safe place to live.”

Evfra hummed in thought, moving to the window. Sara followed to see what he saw. “You’re right. There’s a Vault out there, but it was shut years ago and the entrance hidden. We can’t help you.”

“The Moshae could.” Jaal interjected, “She is our most revered scientist and elder. She knows this vault.”

“And now the Kett have her, and our rescue attempts failed.” Evfra spun angrily to face him, “She is lost to us. Lost to you.”

Sara nearly gasped aloud, “If this Moshae of yours is so important, you should keep trying! There’s always a way. Perhaps I can offer assistance, my team and I could help a new rescue attempt.”

“Arrogant! I don’t know you, let alone trust you, why would I want your help?” Evfra growled.

“Understood.” She sighed. 

“Evfra, I feel…” Jaal took a long moment to contemplate her words, “Evfra, what this alien says is extraordinary. The Moshae would want us to be brave and not let this chance pass.”

“Jaal,” He sighed, “You talk too much.”

“Let me assess this alien. I’ll be your eyes. I know you can spare me.”

Evfra shook his head, “Go if you want. Don’t come crying to me when she tries to kill you.”

Evfra left then to continue his work. Jaal seemed rather pleased that he convinced Evfra to let him go. “I’ll be your envoy through Angaran space.”

“Thank you.” Sara smiled, “This means a great deal to me, truly.”

“Hmm.” Jaal was amused, to say the least. “You seem to understand. It would be a tragedy if I really did have to kill you in your sleep.”

As Jaal began to make his way out, Sara followed with an incredulous laugh. “Luckily, I doubt that’ll be the case.”


	16. Advantage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara and her crew begin working to gain the Angara's trust; and try to learn to trust them in return.

Everyone was more than a little tense when Sara returned to the Tempest with one of the Angara, Jaal. Scott especially went straight to Sara and stayed close to her, watching him cautiously, a fact which Jaal noticed immediately. 

They flew back to the Nexus to quickly drop Diyxtee off and out of danger. In that time Sara had everyone gather in the meeting room to try and answer their questions.

“We need to earn their trust.” She told them.

“Since when did we give them ours?”

“Come on guys, settle down already! We have an Angara here so lets just hear what he has to say.” Sara sighed and turned to Jaal, who was sitting nearby just listening with a scowl on his face. She motioned for him to join them, to explain the details she could not, trying to be as respectful as possible.

“One day,” He began, standing and moving in next to Sara, “About eighty years ago, the Kett arrived in Heleus, and the horror began.”

“They declared war on you?”

“Nothing so base as that. They turned us against one another effortlessly, then attacked while we were divided. The battle has never ceased since. They master the art of subterfuge.” 

“The Kett kidnap Angara, their people disappear without a trace. What if that was us, huh? What if we were the ones searching for our friends and family?”

“I’ll fight Kett all day long, but that’s no plan kid.”

“We need to get into that Vault, Ryder. How do you plan on doing that?” Peebee asked her. “Our own mission has to take priority.”

“Our own mission doesn’t mean jack shit if we find ourselves fighting two alien species. We don’t have the population for that. We’re here to find a safe home for our people peacefully, not to destroy what’s already here. Our mission is in jeopardy due to the Kett; any alliances we can forge, any knowledge we can gain will increase our chances. If we want to remain in Heleus safely, then we need to acknowledge who’s home this is. Aya is a sovereign state of the Angara and we will not be landing there again without their permission.” Sara turned to Jaal, “This is your home. We’re the visitors. How do you suggest we make this work?”

Jaal seemed to respect the answer she’d given, nodding firmly. “The Resistance is stretched thin. I have been tasked with traveling to two of our worlds to assist. You will accompany me.”

“Because…?”

“Because then Evfra will see you as trustworthy. You want that.”

“These are the worlds;” Sara told them, bringing them both up on the holo, “Havarl and Voeld.”

“Before the Scourge, Voeld was a thriving planet of billions, a shining center of Angaran civilization. Now it is the center of our ground war with the Kett. We are fighting them to the death for control of the planet. If we lose Voeld, we may very well lose the war entirely.”

“And the other?”

“Havarl is the Angaran birthplace. It’s started to degrade, becoming wild and dangerous, but it is still our home. We suspect Remnant are involved. We’ve recently lost contact with our scientists there.”

“Still don’t see how any of this helps us.”

“I do.” Cora sighed, “Help us, or rather help _me_ , and I’ll vouch for you right? Jaal wants in Aya’s Vault too.”

“No.” Sara told them, “This is about gaining Angaran trust for a lot more than just the Vault. If this goes well, their leaders may allow us to begin diplomatic efforts between our people, a peaceful alliance. If we want to live here, that is critical.”

The group didn’t seem particularly convinced, “Well, it’s your call Ryder.” 

“Alright. Be ready to go, I’ll choose our first mission soon.” The group dispersed with mutters and worry all over their faces. Clearly they didn’t think this would work, at all. Sara couldn’t blame him. Only Scott remained, waiting for her to say something or do something, watching her expressions carefully. “You don’t seem worried Scotty.” She mentioned after a short time.

“Sounded pretty solid to me.” Scott shrugged, “They don’t know you like I know you, that’s all. You always were the brains.”

“Hmm.”

“You look so tired, sis.”

She let out a choked laugh, leaning into the console. “Do I?” She shook her head, “I still need to deal with APEX, reports to Tann, Eos…” 

Scott smiled and pat her shoulder, “APEX, that’s familiar at least. How about I deal with that for you?”

“You’d do that?”

“Why not?” He chuckled, “I am the military trained one of us.”

“Pfff. Showoff.” Sara couldn’t help but smile up at him, “Fine. I’ll give you access. You should go talk to Kandros next time we’re on the Nexus.”

“Sure.” He nodded, “Until then lets get one of those squads going while we wait to land, yeah? Might as well get someone moving.”

“Great, that makes me feel so much better, thank you.” She groaned, only making him laugh again as they made their way to the APEX station.

-

“Havarl.” Sara said aloud, entering the coordinates into navigation. 

“The Scientists?”

“Civilians come first.” 

“Entering FTL.” As the ship’s speed increased Sara moved away from her console and to Kallo’s chair, leaning into the back to watch his controls. For a brief moment Aya flashed in his mind.

“Funny to think of the drive core not actually working, isn’t it?” She mentioned with a small smile as she watched him work. Kallo chuckled, glancing up at her.

“When Teon just about gave himself an aneurysm in his excitement.”

“Some of the calculations you guys ran me through were damn frightening you know, I’d be concerned if you guys even attempted twenty-two light years a day with an ODSY drive.”

“Luckily we had your voice of reason.”

Sara laughed, “My voice of reason? I climbed six stories up a radio tower in my first three weeks of working with you.”

“Hey, you made it back down alive.” 

“All in a days work.”

They heard Suvi giggle from her station, “You two are adorable.”

“Yes, I am.” Sara grinned jokingly, standing a little straighter, “I don’t know about him though, I guess it’s open to debate.”

“Hey, now that’s just cruel.” Kallo feigned being hurt, but he didn’t bother hiding his smile.

Sara laughed and pat his shoulder, “Oh don’t worry, you’re still my favorite.”

“I won’t tell Scott.”

“Smart call for both our sakes.”

“Approaching Havarl.”

The planet was beautiful. A bit dark but with a gorgeous view of the gas giant it orbited, with glowing flora and dense jungles. As they descended towards the landing point they flew among the native wildlife; it was a spectacle, to say the least. Unlike anything they’d see back in the Milky Way, and all three of them were mesmerized.

“I’m going to gear up.” She pat Kallo’s shoulder again before moving to the door, “Get as close as you can.”

“On it.” Kallo glanced back, “Stay on coms?” 

“Anything for you.” She laughed, waving as she left.

Jaal, Drack and Scott were all suiting up when Sara walked in. Her brother was what she noticed first, “Whoa whoa whoa.” She stopped him immediately, “No way Scotty. Just because they let you on board the ship does not mean you’re ready for combat.”

“I’m fine.” He told her, “Quick wake up means a quick recovery. Lexi’s already checked me out, don’t worry.”

“And I know you and your antics, you’re going to biotic charge the first enemy you see, it’s too-”

“Sara. You’re my sister right?”

“Yes-”

“And you remember what we promised each other back in the Milky Way, right?”

Sara sighed in exasperation, “ _Yes_ , but-”

“Alright, then I’m going with you. Anywhere you go I go, no ifs ands or buts about it.” He handed her her chest plate, “Come on, get suited up. We’ve got some Scientists to find.” Sara sighed again as she began to work on her armor.

“You are so damn stubborn.” She muttered.

“Yeah, so are you. Runs in the family.”

“Ha!” Drack clapped Scott’s back, “You’ll work just fine around here kid.” He laughed, producing a grin from Scott and fake annoyance from Sara.

As it was, she could not have been more glad that he was going with her despite her worry.

-

Havarl was even more beautiful up close, but the best part of the trip wasn’t the flora. It was watching Scott return to his Vanguard roots.

He was having a fantastic time charging into the enemy ranks using his Biotics, probably for the first time in a long time. Sara giggled a few times as she sniped from the back as he and Drack both charged in together on many occasions.

“Hey, look at you!” He praised mid-fight as Sara sniped an enemy that was creeping up on him, “You’ve gotten better Skater!”

“Blame the crew!” Scott laughed, making her smile.

As they fought, Sara vaguely heard something to her left. She glanced and saw nothing, so she returned to sniping an Adhi that was approaching Jaal. She obviously needed more experience, she should have taken a closer look. A moment later a stealthed Rokaar jumped her and pinned her to the rocks she’d been taking cover behind.

The boys heard her shriek, and Sara was rather grateful for her boxing experience as she blocked his punches and managed to keep his knife from striking her. Before Scott could charge forward she threw her own solid punch and hit the Rokaar in the face.

Before she realized what was happening, her first was encased by the blue glow of Biotics. The Rokaar was sent flying with his skull caved in into the brush, dead on impact. Sara stared at her fist in shock. Before the only way she could use her Biotics was if she charged them, gave herself the time to use them. This was instantaneous, without her even realizing that she’d done it until after the fact, and she was left speechless.

The group had finished off the rest of the Rokaar as Scott jogged to her side, crouching to look at her charged fist. “When did your Biotics get so strong?” He asked her, using his own to encircle her fist and quiet the charge until she no longer felt the Biotics.

“It… didn’t?”

 **“Sara, I may have an answer.”** SAM came in over her Tool, **“Now that you have Pathfinder access, your implant is stronger and more sensitive; this has increased your Biotic strength.”**

“And I didn’t notice beforehand because I never had any reason to use my Biotics.” Sara nodded, standing with Scott’s help. “I see.”

“Not a problem, we’ll just work on controlling your newfound strength.” Scott pat her shoulder, “Later, after we’ve helped these scientists, yeah?”

“Yeah. Lets go.”

Clearing out the Rokaar and some Remnant gave them access to the scientists, who were studying a Remnant monolith and got stuck in a strange stasis field. Sara and SAM found some glyphs nearby. **“These glyphs may deactivate the stasis field.”**

“Yeah… this doesn’t look nearly as complex as the algorithms on Eos.” Sara hummed, “Suvi, can we cross-reference?”

 _“Maybe?”_ She thought, _“We don’t know enough about the glyphs yet. I’ll send you the previous sets for reference.”_

“Alright. We’ll need a little time to work this out.” Sara took a seat up on a slightly raised portion of the monolith, leaning against one of the pillars. “Shouldn’t be too difficult, take a breather.”

Jaal continued to scan the scientists while Drack made himself comfortable nearby. Scott was staring at the monolith in awe, looking at all of the carvings. “So this is what you’ve been doing Skater?”

“Pretty incredible isn’t it?”

“Yeah. Never seen anything like this.” He moved to take a seat next to her, looking at the algorithms she was working on. “Math transcends galaxies, you must be thrilled.”

“It’s a challenge, no question. Reminds me of that damn thesis I spent six months on in college.”

Scott tilted his head, “Looks complex.”

“Eos was complex, this looks relatively simple. This monolith seems to already be active.”

**“I conclude that these algorithms had already been worked through sometime in the past. We are working with mostly completed algorithms that may have been accidentally disturbed by the science team here.”**

“See? Simple job.”

Jaal looked to the two curiously. “Scott and Sara. You are siblings. Where are the rest?”

Scott looked at him with confusion, “The rest?”

“The rest of your siblings and family?”

Sara chuckled, “Oh, we don’t have any other siblings. It’s just us.” Scott explained, “Our father’s back on the Hyperion and that’s all the family we have.”

“Seems lonely.”

 _“Three Ryders are more than enough.”_ Kallo jokingly cut in over the coms.

“Angaran families are very large.” Jaal explained, “Cultural differences I suppose. May I ask, which one of you is the elder sibling?”

“We’re twins.” Sara told him, “We were born on the same day.”

 _“Jaal has a point.”_ Liam said over the coms, _“One of you was born before the other, even if you are twins. So which one was it?”_

“Aaaah.” Scott smirked, “That’s a government mandated secret.”

_“…Wait, what?”_

“Yup.” Sara shrugged, “Top secret, classified information.”

“We’d probably have to go into hiding and change our names if anyone found out.”

“We’re not that irresponsible, what do you take us for?” Kallo giggled over the coms.

“You’re not serious.” Jaal said, but he still sounded slightly concerned.

 _“Har har, very funny.”_ Liam deadpanned.

 _“Hey Kallo, which one of them is older?”_ Peebee asked.

_“What makes you think I know?”_

_“You two are shacking up aren’t you? Figured you knew everything about Sara.”_

Kallo choked over the coms and half the crew burst out laughing, _“What?!”_ Even Sara laughed, having to stop in her calculations.

“Peebee get your mind out of the gutter, none of that is going on.” Sara chuckled.

 _“Oh, sorry to hear that.”_ She could hear Peebee smirking, _“Give it time I’m sure.”_ Kallo’s annoyed grumbles over coms only set off another wave of laughter.

It took about an hour for Sara and Suvi to work through the algorithms, with some help from Peebee, but they managed to drop the stasis field. Escorting the scientists back turned out to be fruitful; on a tip from one of them they managed to locate Turian survivors from Ark Natanus, including Avitus Rix, Pathfinder Macen Barro’s second in command.

“We haven’t heard anything.” Avitus reported, “But Pathfinder access hasn’t been transfered to me yet, so Macen must still be alive out there somewhere.”

Sara let out a rather relieved sigh, “Avitus, that is the best news I’ve heard in weeks.” She told him, “Here’s my com channel. We’ll send some Nexus recovery teams to pick up all of you, just stay put for now. I’ll update you back on the Nexus once my mission is complete.”

“Thank you Pathfinder. I’ll let you know if I hear anything before then.”

-

_“Jaal’s been keeping me updated on your… ‘adventures’.”_

Sara chuckled, “Is that the term for it? Just doing what’s right. I want you to know that you can trust me.”

 _“You went out of your way to free that science team.”_ Evfra nodded, _“A selfless act. But your true agenda is clear; you want access to Aya’s Vault. You want to help find the Moshae? Why should I let you?”_

Sara took a moment to think of her answer, taking a deep breath, “Because it’s obvious your people care for her. I haven’t seen much, but I’ve seen enough to know your people have suffered at the hands of the Kett. If this role was reversed I would be searching for any advantage to find those I care about. I want to help you, and hopefully create a strong bond between our people. I see no point in creating another rival.”

Evfra hummed, _“Keep your promises and little by little, our bond might grow.”_ He told her, _“We’ve managed to trace the Moshae to a special Kett facility on Voeld.”_

“What’s special about it?”

 _“These facilities are protected by a dynamic shield tech we haven’t been able to crack.”_ Evfra explained, _“We’re close, but its ability to adapt outstrips the speed of our current processors.”_

 _ **“Adding my processor to their program would no doubt make the difference.”**_ SAM told her over their private channel. Sara nodded slightly before turning her full attention back to Evfra.

“As I’ve told you, I’m a Mathematician. I have experience with complex codes and algorithms. Our scientists are the best in their field; I offer you whatever assistance I can provide to get her back.”

Evfra gave her an odd look, _“I find it rather odd that your people would put someone as intelligent as yourself in such jeopardy.”_

“There were…” Sara let out a short laugh, “extenuating circumstances.”

 _“Hmph. Very well, I’m not stupid… and I love the Moshae.”_ Evfra agreed, and Sara sighed in relief. _“A team will meet you at our base on Voeld. They’ll take you to the Kett facility.”_

“Thank you.”

Evfra’s holo disconcerted, and Sara took a moment to let out her anxiety with a few deep breaths. “Did you mean what you said?” Jaal asked her.

“Of course I did.” She told him, smiling, “We’ll get her back Jaal, don’t you worry.”

-

“Ark Natanus huh?”

Sara hadn’t bothered to change out of her armor, they were headed straight to Voeld anyway. Sara was up on the bridge with Kallo as they flew, waiting to enter the system, finding his presence calming. Scott was standing at her Pathfinder’s terminal watching their journey; she found it funny that it didn’t react to him as it did to her. He too was in his armor, waiting to embark on the mission.

“Yeah. Who would have thought huh?”

Kallo sighed, “Then there’s hope for the other Arks.”

Sara glanced at him, “Have you heard anything about Ark Paarchero?”

He shook his head, “Not a peep. Isn’t that strange? You’d think there’d be something…” Sara reached over and touched his arm with a comforting smile on her face. Behind them the door to the Bridge opened.

“Don’t worry. We’ll find them.”

“Yeah. I know we will.” Kallo breathed, “I just have to be patient, that’s all.”

“Hey kid?” Drack entered the Bridge when she’d been talking to Kallo, having waited for them to finish their conversation. “I’ll head out with you again.”

“You sure?” She asked him, “Sounds like Voeld is stuck in an Ice Age right now. It’ll be cold as all hell.”

“Ah I’m Krogan, I’ll live.” He laughed, “Besides, I still don’t trust these Angara. I’d like to really see them in action.”

“Never said I did either.” Sara shrugged, “But they didn’t shoot us down on sight even though they easily could have, so the way I see it we might as well give this a chance. An alliance is much better than another enemy.”

“Approaching Voeld.” Suvi reported, “Our initial scans told us this planet was covered in H2O with a breathable atmosphere.”

“The Ice Age put an end to that real quick.” Sara sighed, “I wonder if Remnant are involved here too.”

“We still don’t understand enough about them.”

Sara shrugged, “I know enough about basic math to calculate our odds without at least checking it out.”

As they went in to land a storm was raging, but Kallo was more than skilled enough to guide them in safely. Granted they nearly did fall through the ice, but Kallo saved them from that too, with some jokes in between.

Sara left with Scott, Drack and Jaal out into the blizzard. Kallo watched them leave out the window as Vetra and Liam join him on the Bridge. Kallo had heard Liam practically running to the Bridge; Vetra, for one reason or another, was trying not to laugh as she followed him.

As they watched the group disappear into the snow, Liam had a shit eating grin on his face. “Did you take a look at that armor?” He asked, “Powerful, determined, capable.”

“No one can fault her for not getting results so far.” Vetra nodded, seeming to be enjoying herself. 

“I’ll bet she’s like that in other ways, too. Isn’t that right Kallo?”

Kallo glanced at him, “Yes, she is capable. What’s your point?”

Liam groaned in exasperation, “Come on man, just ask her already!”

“Ask who what?”

Liam shook his head, “You’re playing dumb. You know what I mean.”

Vetra laughed a little as Liam left the Bridge. Kallo gave her a questioning gaze, “Liam and Peebee saw you two on Aya.” She hinted with a wink. Kallo instantly turned bright green, which he tried very hard to hide. “They told everyone.”

“Nothing happened.” Kallo grumbled, annoyed that he couldn’t hide his blush. “We were just talking.”

“That’s not how Peebee tells it, but I think we all assumed she was exaggerating. However, if nothing happened you wouldn’t be blushing like that.” Suvi told him with a grin. She left the Bridge with Vetra, leaving Kallo there to grumble about all of them.

And maybe to reflect. Just a little.


	17. Anything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to rescue Moshae Sjefa; Sara's first real, big mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I know that in the game there's choice given, but I never saw any significance to the choice so I wanted to try a different path using the skills that Sara has. =)

“So no one has ever seen the inside of these places, no one has ever come out of one alive, and their shields have never been brought down before.” Sara sighed, “Really?”

“Correct. We call those who enter ‘the disappeared’. We have no idea what goes on within.” Jaal explained.

“No one’s ever escaped?” Scott asked.

“We’ve liberated work camps, but not a facility of this type. We lost too many trying, the costs became too high.”

“That’s why we’re here to even the odds.” Drack said, “Should have had a Krogan around. Now you do.”

“There are rumors that those who go in are sent back to the Kett homeworld.”

“As slaves?” Jaal growled, “Death is better.”

“We’ll put an end to this.” 

“Approaching the facility now.”

Everyone prepared their weapons, stood up as the anticipation grew. “It wont help anyone if all of us become ‘the disappeared’ while we’re here. Everyone stay safe and stay on coms.”

“We’ll do what we can, but none of us joined the Resistance to stay safe.”

The base was large, with a huge shield surrounding it completely. It’s no wonder the Resistance had never gotten inside before. The group hiked up a short ways to the back of the facility, out of sight and undetected. They found the hackable node just outside the shield, and Sara and SAM got to work.

“SAM, add in your processors.”

**“Please hold.”**

“… Add in the conjoining sequences, and…” A hole formed in the shield, much to everyone’s amazement. “Boom! How’s that for ingenuity?” The group quickly made their way through the shield before it could close again, and made swift work of the Kett’s guard dogs. “SAM before we leave I want to know every single detail about this place.”

**“Yes Pathfinder.”**

They made their way inside through a maintenance shaft but quickly stumbled into a commons area; no way they were a surprise anymore, the combat and shots would have alerted others. Commander Heckt took his team to provide a distraction so Sara’s group could continue on to find Moshae Sjefa.

“I can’t believe I’m standing here.” Jaal mentioned, “No one has ever seen the inside of one of these facilities and lived to tell about it.”

“Then lets be the first.” Scott nodded firmly, “Lets take a look around while we’re here.”

“Agreed. We can’t let this opportunity go to waste.” 

**“Sara, the program I used to breach the shield can overload it and destroy this facility. However, the pulse is deadly to Angaran physiology.”**

“That’s not ideal SAM. Last resort only.”

Sara chose to go left down a hallway first, coming across Kett chambers. It seemed they lived and slept in groups, and reading some of the datapads gave her a sick feeling in her stomach, just in the fact of how seemingly normal it all was. Heading right down the hallway brought them to what appeared to be a classroom of some type. It had desks and what appeared to be a stasis pod on the wall. 

“If the Kett aren’t from Heleus… maybe they really are sending Angara back to their homeworld.” Sara theorized as they scanned the items. “From these it seems like the Kett are completely devoted to the Archon, look at these tests.”

“Commander,” Jaal called over the coms, “Call for a science team. We must learn what we can from this place. This evidence is already invaluable.”

_“On it.”_

“Doesn’t sit right with me.” Drack muttered, “This whole place smells wrong.”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

A fight erupted again in what appeared to be a control room. Connected to it was a communications center. Sara sat down in the foremost chair.

“SAM, how quickly can we work through these encryptions?”

 **“They do not appear too complex.”** It only took her and SAM a few moments to break in, and to begin to play logs seemingly sent to the facility by the Archon.

_“Keep this place sacred, and I will embrace you. You are elite among Kett. All at home envy your sacred position.”_

_“I am pleased to hear our Exaltation is proceeding smoothly.”_

_“There are new arrivals in this system, new aliens that have been unpredictable and dangerous. Capture them for study.”_

_“These aliens have a… Champion among them, a… **Pathfinder**. Capture it alive and bring it to me without delay. We will see how and why this Pathfinder commands them.”_

“I’d like to see him try.” Scott muttered angrily. 

“The Kett must not have the information they think they have.” Sara hummed, “Exaltation… I wonder what that means, is there a translation?”

**“No.”**

“Alright. Lets find the Moshae.”

“Something’s happening out there.” They turned to Drack, who had seen motion out the whited-out window nearby. Sure enough the group could see moving silhouettes, but nothing more. “Can we clear this up?”

Sara went to the console at the center of the window, and SAM quickly figured out how to clear it. There they saw a big open area, with a huge statue of the Archon at the center.

“What… is this?”

There were many Kett below, with many of those pods and four Angara who were not resisting. The four pods closest to them opened up, and a Kett that appeared to be head of the facility faced them.

“Fortunate welcome!” She called to these Angara, sounding utterly sincere. “Step forward.” The Angara did as they were told, “I am humbled before you. You who are the chosen-- chosen by the Archon. Chosen to be exalted.”

“Chosen to be exalted!”

The Angara, without any prodding, stepped into the pods. It closed in around them. “What? Why are they not resisting?” Jaal asked.

“Looks like some kind of ritual.” Sara thought, watching closely, “It seems like the Angara are entranced. Maybe through drugs or trauma? I don’t know.”

“I know the Moshae, she’s not down there. But maybe in one of those pods?”

“It’s our best bet right now.”

 _“I hope your ready for a distraction,”_ Commander Heckt came through over coms. He sounded as if he was about to enjoy what was coming, _“because we just set our plan on fire!”_ They felt explosions shake the building, and moments later alarms started blaring throughout the facility. The Kett scrambled immediately, and the leader bowed to a holo as the Archon appeared before her.

_“Explain.”_

“We’ve been breached. I will defend the temple.”

 _“Wait!”_ The Archon ordered, _“Is the Moshae among these?”_

“No. It awaits final exaltation.”

_“Then proceed immediately and bring it to me.”_

“Yes, Archon.”

The woman marched off with some Kett in tow.

“‘Final exaltation’, what’s final?! We must save all the Angara!”

Sara nodded with a deep breath, “We might not get another chance. We’ll do what we can.”

“Thank you, Sara.” Jaal sighed.

“That wasn’t the plan, kid.” 

Sara looked to Drack, “Plans change. Lets go guys.”

They fought their way through the facility through significantly less Kett. Their Resistance friends were doing a good job holding the Kett’s attention, and they had reinforcements incoming with the Scientists.

They found a room filled with pods, but none of them were the Moshae. She was being moved; they had to run. 

They cut through maintenance corridors, following the Moshae’s signal. They found strange laboratories along their way, Sara would have stayed had they not needed to hurry. She’d hoped the scientists could find something out.

As they neared the Moshae, they entered another decontamination room. Kett were in the room beyond with many more pods. They all got down and watched, unable to do anything as SAM tried to work through the decontamination protocols.

Before their eyes, one of the pods floated down from an upper row. A Kett in finer robes was given two alien tools, standing there with his arms folded, almost religiously. The Kett began to float up to where the pod was suspended, and an Angara was brought out of the pod. 

It didn’t appear that the male could move. He tried, and seemed very scared, but had no way to escape. They watched as the Kett stabbed him in the chest with the tools.

Sara gasped and grabbed Scott’s arm tightly. Jaal pressed up to the window in shock, watching as the Angara screamed and crumpled in pain. His skin and body changed, and he turned a disgusting oil color. Scott grabbed hold of Sara as they watched, both angered and horrified with nothing they could do to stop it. She noticed the look in her brother’s eyes; protect and defend at all costs.

The Angara fell to the ground. When he stood, he was no longer Angaran.

He was a Kett trooper.

The protocols ended, and Jaal charged into the room, followed closely by the rest. “Monsters! VILLAINS!”

“Those assholes deserve what’s coming!”

They cleared out the room in record time, each of them filled with hate and disgust at what they’d witnessed. They had no choice but to shoot the newly turned Angara; he had been shooting at them. When the battle was over, Jaal went to the corpse immediately.

Scott went over and grabbed tight hold of Sara again, just for a brief moment. “What was that?”

“I don’t know.” He told her, “But I do know one thing. He’s definitely not getting a hold of you now.”

“I’ve seen a lot of shit,” Drack muttered angrily, “But this just reached the top of my shit list.”

“Was that… exaltation? Turning Angara into Kett soldiers?”

Sara looked to Jaal, who was still kneeling before the corpse in shock. “We need to find the Moshae.” Drack told her. She nodded, but worried for Jaal.

“You two go on ahead.” She told them, “Jaal and I will catch up in a minute.”

Drack ran off with a rather reluctant Scott, leaving Sara and Jaal there. She approached cautiously, unsure of what to say to him. “Jaal?”

“They… They are us.” He muttered, tears in his eyes. “They are us.”

Sara put her hand on his shoulder, and he cried. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he mourned the victim. Sara knelt down, her arm around his shoulders.

“How many have I killed… not knowing? I didn’t know Sara, I swear… I didn’t know.”

“This isn’t your fault. You couldn’t have known.” She told him quietly, “How can I help you Jaal? What can I do? Tell me what you need.”

“That is kind… I… I don’t know.” Jaal stood up, and Sara followed him worriedly. “Please. Let us find the Moshae.”

“Of course.” Sara nodded, “If anyone can tell us what this means, it’s her.”

“Yes…”

 _“Sara, Jaal! We found the Moshae!”_ Scott came in over coms, _“She’s here, hurry!”_

They ran down the corridor Scott and Drack had gone down, running to catch up with them. They were instantly stuck in another decontamination room. “SAM, get me into that room right now!”

**“Initiating bypass hack.”**

They fought their way forward, up and out to a landing area. The Moshae was at the back; they continued forward, making their way closer and closer, clearing out Kett as they went until finally, they reached her.

And she was alive.

“Moshae Sjefa? We’re getting you out of here ma’am.”

The Moshae looked at her curiously, tired and not looking well at all. “No one has ever left these walls alive…”

“Then you’ll be the first.” Sara smiled, “Come on. I’ve got you.” She helped the Moshae stand.

“I’m not the only one here.”

“Vitals are bad. Her immune system’s been decimated.” Jaal said as he scanned her, “We need to leave.”

“You will not take it!” It seemed the leader had survived their guns, and made their way to him. She tried to start an attack, “It is meant for the Archon himself!”

Scott and Drack ran forward and pointed their guns to her head; she lowered her hands, realizing she was outmatched. 

The Moshae shook her head, “Why… Why did the Archon…?” 

“Arrogant simpletons!” She spat, “This is a gift! Who are you to deny it?”

“A gift?” Sara walked forward to get in her face, “You call this a gift? Taking Angara against their will, turning them into monsters, making them fight their own people?”

“These chosen joined with us to become great beings! Greater than you could ever imagine, beyond anything you are capable of understanding. Like them, I was once wretched, but now the exalted DNA of our great Archon entwines with mine. I stand on the shoulders of his greatness, as they do. As one day, you will.”

Sara moved closer, her hands balled into fists, glaring into her eyes. She saw fear there. At any other time, Sara would have questioned why she didn’t care. Why she actually liked seeing the fear in the leader’s eyes. “Greatness? Greatness can’t be engineered.”

**“Pathfinder, I am tracking multiple inbound Kett cruisers. Reinforcements are close.”**

“You will all be exalted!”

“Not likely.” Sara growled, “SAM, is there an off switch to this horror palace?”

**“I can access the shield and overload it at your command. However, the effect will be instantaneous.”**

Jaal came forward, “You promised you would free the Angara!”

“There isn’t any time to open all these pods.” Drack told him.

“Wait.” The leader spoke up, “Leave my sacred temple in tact and I will open all of the pods. You may take them; just leave this temple standing.”

“No!” The Moshae stood on her own strength, “Even if I die here, this place must be destroyed!”

“We can come back another time!” Jaal told her, “Lets free those here now.”

“If your plan fails, they will simply fill this place up again.”

Sara hummed in thought, pacing back and forth. She thought hard for a moment, thinking through her options, running her hand through her hair. “SAM… you are able to translate a fair amount of the language now right?”

**“With scans I have gathered from this facility, I have been able to expand my codex considerably.”**

“Alright…” Sara nodded, “Alright. Please Moshae Sejfa, trust me.” She turned to the Kett, “Free the Angara.”

The Kett opened all of the pods, but Drack wasn’t about to let her go. Once it was done he shot her; the leader didn’t move again.

“You… have a plan, Sara?”

“Yes. SAM, where’s that Kett’s office?” 

**“To your right, through the doors.”**

“Come on.” She marched towards this office with the group in tow. Sara sat down in the chair and powered on the main console. “Commander Heckt, evacuate all of the scientists and technicians right now, any data they haven’t gotten they’ll have to leave behind. This temple is about to go up in smoke. Free the Angara as fast as possible.”

_“We’re on it, shouldn’t be too difficult.”_

“What are you doing?”

“SAM’s solution is instantaneous, but he had the right idea.” Sara told them as she brought on the systems. “We can’t use the program to overload the shields, but what if we use the facility itself?”

“Speak plainly kid, we’re running out of time.” 

“I am speaking plainly, it’s simple. SAM, translate.” She multi-tasked like a pro, pulling up files and programs as fast as she could, “Mathematics are universal. To sustain all of these pods and keep hundreds of Angara alive and in a stable condition for exaltation, logic dictates there must be a massive energy source.” She brought up a map of the facility. “SAM’s solution overloads the shields directly, causing an explosion. But by using a specific master console, this console, I can create a timed charge. Enough to set it and get us out before it blows. See here? These three power chambers run the entire facility. I send an electrical overload through this console, it domino’s from one power node to the next, all the way down to the power chambers. The chambers overload, which in turn overloads the shields.”

“Causing an explosion, destroying the facility while still giving us and the captives time to escape, and killing Kett trapped inside who were trying to stop us.” Scott grinned, “Sara you’re a genius!”

“So they tell me. I just have to break their encryptions and overwrite the facilities safety protocols, that’s the tough part. If we’re lucky SAM has enough of the language translated to be able to crack it, we’ll see soon enough.”

“Risky as hell, but it just might work.” Drack nodded.

**“Kett reinforcements arriving.”**

“I can do a lot more on this console than overload a few nodes.” She cracked her knuckles with a smile, “SAM, put your main processors on translating this for me and monitoring specific movement. I can do the rest.”

**“Yes Pathfinder.”**

Sara typed as fast as she could, “Ladies and gentlemen, you better hang on to your knickers. I’m about to blow your minds.”

SAM translated for her as she worked on accessing the power nodes through difficult encryptions. She talked as she worked, speaking out equations and conversions involuntarily, working faster than any had ever seen her work before. **“Kett have entered the second, sixth and fifteenth elevators.”**

Sara brought up the map and accessed the elevators, cutting off all their power. “Whoopsie. Going down.”

SAM told her where Kett were trying to move towards the retreating Angara. Sara closed off corridors and maintenance shafts, stopped elevators and slowed them down as much as possible while still working through the encryptions. They could hear some fighters outside but Sara paid little mind.

“Pathfinder…”

“Hang on.” Scott stopped Jaal from speaking, “Let me.” Scott approached her, but didn’t get in her line of sight. He spoke quietly so he wouldn’t interrupt her thought process, “There’s an airdrop coming sis. We’re running out of time.”

“I hear you… I need to run these conversions at two separate rates.” Sara continued working, speaking out incompletely in terms only the Moshae seemed to vaguely understand. “Commander, what’s your status?”

 _“We have almost everyone out.”_ He reported.

“Good.” Finally, she’d worked through the encryptions and accessed the power nodes, overwriting all of their safety protocols. She directed all of their energy and access codes to the single master console. Then she locked every other console in the facility; there would be no way to access the systems except from her location. “We’re going to need an evac on the roof right away.”

_“On our way.”_

“Alright. Here we go.” Sara set the console to overload slowly. It would take ten minutes for it to overload. On her word they left the room and shut the doors, and Sara quickly stopped to hardwire the door’s lock to stop it from opening again. Drack shot the lock for good measure anyway. “Lets go, lets go!”

The group made a run for it. The nearest landing pad was swarmed with Kett trying to enter the facility, but still they fought their way through. They had to reach the end to be evacuated, where there was better cover. The Moshae insisted on helping, and put up a barrier for them. They made their way forward as fast as they could. **“Six minutes to overload.”** They ran for the back of the platform, tailed by Kett and Fiends they’d somehow gotten onto the roof. A shuttle was approaching.

“Jaal, get her on the shuttle, NOW!”

**“Four minutes to overload.”**

“Everybody out, LETS GO! _GO GO GO!_ ” She yelled into all coms, shooting a few more times before being the last to jump into the shuttle. They sped away and into open air.

**“30 seconds to overload.”**

Even as they had gotten away, they still felt the shock wave from the explosion of the facility. Sara let out a long, deep sigh, leaning back into the seat she’d been given. It was over.

Scott put his arm around her and hugged her tightly, “Good job sis.” Sara hugged him back, relieved it had worked. 

“You too Scotty. All of you. Well done.”

 _“That was one hell of a lights show Pathfinder.”_ Heckt came in over coms.

“Did you get everyone out?”

_“There were a few select groups, a few dozen each, who were too far gone to move, they would have died in transit. We had to leave them behind, but we managed to save the majority of the captured.”_

“Good.” Sara breathed. “I’m sorry we couldn’t save more.”

“We saved more than ever before. That is a victory.” Jaal nodded, “Thank you, Ryder.”

-

Kallo was waiting in the cargo bay when they finally returned. The group looked exhausted and a little beat up. Jaal quickly followed Lexi to the medbay, supporting a female Angara over his shoulders. Scott and Drack went their separate ways but Sara remained near the door, looking like she’d lost all her energy.

Kallo approached her quietly. No one really seemed to notice them; Sara glanced up at him and he could see the strain. They’d heard a few bits and pieces from what they’d witnessed within the facility, but judging by the look on Sara’s face they’d seen something much, much worse than what was reported.

He hugged her without saying a word. He could feel her take in a very slow breath, her shoulders tight and her grip on him slightly desperate. On the exhale her shoulders slumped and her grip loosened; her tensions released, so only her exhaustion remained. 

“Kal,” She muttered quietly so only he could hear her, “Can you just… we need to get back to Aya, can you handle the navigation for me? Please?” Her voice shook ever so slightly; he doubted anyone other than Scott would have been able to pick up on it, but Kallo caught it.

“Of course.” He told her, brushing back her hair a little to hear her better, “Anything you need.” She let out another breath and a little more of the tension she was carrying. “Want to talk about it?”

“Not really. Later. Maybe. I don’t know yet.”

“Okay.” He let her go and smiled for her, trying to be as comforting as possible. “You go talk to the Moshae while it’s quiet. I’ll get us to Aya.”

“Thanks. I’ll… get this over with.” She muttered, wandering off to change out of her armor, leaving Kallo worried for her health. He hoped that whatever they’d seen, it wasn’t more than she could handle.

Kallo went to the Bridge and started on their route to Aya. He carefully plotted their course around the Scourge in Sara’s absence, not moving at their top speed; it seemed to him that they needed a little time to recover. Suvi left the Bridge to help Lexi, leaving it quiet as he flew through space. After awhile he heard the door open, assuming it was Suvi, until someone larger than her sat down in her vacant chair.

“Kallo.” Scott greeted from the chair, staring out the window.

“Scott.” He nodded.

“Have you gotten Sara to talk to you?” Scott asked. Straight to the point, a pattern Kallo was quickly picking up on.

“She said she didn’t want to talk about it yet.”

“Don’t blame her, really. It wasn’t pretty.”

“Figured as much, from some of the Resistance reports we got ahold of.” Kallo looked over to him, not needing to keep his full attention to the controls. “Is Sara not talking to you? Is that why you’re up here?”

“You got me.” Scott raised his hands briefly with a rather exhausted smile on his face. “She said she was going to talk to Moshae Sejfa but to be honest with you, I think she only did so briefly. She’s probably locked herself in her room by now, letting herself deal with...” Scott caught himself, “everything.”

Kallo nodded slowly, glancing back to make sure the door was closed. It was, it was just them on the Bridge and Peebee wasn’t in the escape pod. “You know that I know, right?” Kallo told him, “She told me about what she deals with years ago.”

“Did she?” Scott relaxed again, “I’d say I’m shocked, but I suspected that pretty early on. I think you’re the first person she’s ever told who’s not a doctor.”

“She hinted that that was the case.”

“That’s good. She’s letting herself live a little.” 

Kallo was silent for a moment to pay attention to his console. When he was satisfied he turned back to Scott, “Why won’t she talk to you? Figured you’d be the first she would go to.”

Scott laughed a little, though more with sadness than anything else. “Actually that’s not the case. I can read her sure, but it takes some prodding to get her to really talk through her thoughts with me. She’s… never been one to call on people. You have to poke her a bit. Most days she doesn’t go that far, at least not to me.”

“Why’s that? You two are so close.”

Scott hummed, shifting a little in his seat. Kallo saw his lips press tight, very similar to Sara’s own characteristics. “Sara’s always felt this… need to protect me. She wants to keep me out of her world. Her world being… you know.”

“Yeah.”

“She’s terrified that I’ll get stuck there with her.” He said, “It’s happened before. Not in the same way but she blames herself for things that went on when we were dumb and arrogant teenagers. She’d do anything to keep me away from her world and her problems. So when things happen I have to poke at her. I think in some ways she still sees me as that sixteen year old kid who made some real bad choices.”

“She wanted to protect you but couldn’t.”

“Not when it happened, no. She wasn’t supposed to, but you know her.” Scott glanced over, “I don’t think it’s that way with you though. Not in the same way.”

“Really? I’ve had to poke at her to get her to talk.”

“Hmm.” Scott shook his head, “No, I don’t think so. I think you just needed to ask.”

“There’s a difference?”

Scott smiled at him, “Kallo, I saw you two. I saw you on Aya, here on the Bridge, in the cargo bay. I think she’d tell you anything you wanted to know if you asked her.” His brow furrowed, and he looked to Scott with a strange glint; it was not at all the answer Kallo had expected. “Look, I’m… the sibling, you know? I’m the one she protects because she couldn’t imagine living any other way. I’m also the one she’d distance herself from if she thought it would keep me safe. She’s so passionate and so driven that she’d do anything, anything at all, to keep those in her life safe. But you? I think you embody everything she _wants_ to protect and _wants_ fight for. She’s never really had something she wanted to fight for until she went to Sur’Kesh and started working on the Tempest. It was the first time she’d gone out and worked on a project that she really cared about and wanted to see succeed, something that she could believe in you know? A reason to get up in the morning. Without that first step I don’t think she would have even considered Andromeda. And I think you’re a big reason why. You obviously understand her in a way that I can’t, and have never been able to. She would guard you, this ship, her friends, the Initiative, me, with her life any day of the week; but you’re the one she trusts enough to let into her world, telling you about it is proof of that. She knows you won’t destroy it.”

Kallo was honestly dumbfounded by his words. He hadn’t expected that kind of confession from Scott, or the insight that went along with it. “I… hadn’t considered any of that.”

“I know. That’s why I’m here; being overprotective and making sure you're in the right with her.” Scott chuckled, “I’ve gotten very good at nudging people. I think you can tell that I’d do anything for my sister. I’ve watched her make steps for herself here for the first time, to come to care about things because she wanted to believe in them, not because someone told her to succeed. I’d go to the edge of the galaxy for her, I followed her to Andromeda, I’d go even farther for her. That also means I’ll step aside for those who will be infinitely more helpful to her than I. There are some things a sibling’s not meant to fix.”

“Why did you follow Sara here, leave home so suddenly? If you didn’t choose Andromeda…”

“That’s not really the point.” Scott had a gentle smile on his face, something softer. “Home isn’t any one place. She is my home.”

Kallo was quiet, respecting his answer greatly. He nodded with a small smile of his own. “I want to do what I can.” Kallo told him, “You know as well as I that she feels everything so deeply, including all of the stresses and hardships. She’s an anchor to everyone here, to the entire Initiative, the only Pathfinder we have. And it’s terrible how she got the job, how she’s been treated by our leadership and so many others. If I can help her with this in any way, well… I’d do anything. She’d do anything for me.”

Scott smiled over at him, knowing exactly what he meant. “Anything huh?” Kallo nodded, having to shift his focus to his controls as they neared Aya.

“Anything.”


	18. Stubborn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dealing with the revelations of Voeld is not as easy as Sara wishes it was.

“Jaal told me what he knew about your journey through dark space.” Sjefa said as they walked. The Vault all around them was glowing and obviously active, and Sara paid particular attention to every detail.

“We’re explorers.” Sara nodded, “We wanted to know what was beyond our own borders.”

“You all come from this… Milky Way?”

“Yes.” She smiled, “We’ve never known another people who have made the jump between galaxies. It took over 600 years.”

“Your people live that long?”

Sara laughed, “Some. The Asari and the Krogan can live upwards of a thousand years. The rest, not so much.”

“Fascinating.” They walked on and on, through great empty halls with beautiful carvings. Sara stopped them many times to examine portions of it. “You seem more a scientist than a warrior, Pathfinder.”

“I’m an Engineer, a Mathematician, and now an explorer. Just doing what I can for my people, those who have the intelligence should use it after all.” Sara told her, “I’m not a scientist, but perhaps that will come to be added to my growing resume.”

Sjefa laughed lightly, “Jaal told me all about your fascination with the Remnant. Also for your people?”

“Yes. I believe this Remnant tech can make all these different worlds livable, like Aya is.”

A large door opened in front of them, and Sjefa led her through it. “I haven’t brought anyone here in over twenty years. There’s always been an active display for Aya, but no matter what we did we could never effect it.”

“Well then.” Sara did a little stretch of her arm, “Lets try this my way.”

With SAM’s help, Sara began to interface. It took a short time but eventually a star map, like that on Eos, appeared all around them. “This is… amazing.” Sjefa gasped, “Please, is this like it was on Eos? Tell me what you are seeing.”

“Like it?” Sara shook her head, “The question is: what’s different about it?” She pointed to one of the vault locations, “See? This here is Eos. It’s glowing like Aya was.” Sara turned to the Moshae, “You’re the scientist here. What do you see?”

“I see a network, as you described. However it is very strange; the Vaults are not connected to one another.”

“They’re connected to that place in the middle… whatever that is.”

“This was on a relic the Archon showed me.” Sjefa nodded, “He called it ‘Meridian’. He was obsessed with it and how it worked. And it looks like Aya’s Vault is the only one fully connected to it. Eos is only partially connected.”

“That must be why life is flourishing here.” Sara hummed, “Meaning it’s terraforming, doing what it was meant to do. It’s doing the same for Eos but at a slower rate. That begs the question of who wanted to terraform this cluster? We know it wasn’t the Kett who placed it here. And it wasn’t your people.”

“No. The Remnant was here before our recorded histories.”

“So? What do you think Meridian is professor?”

The Moshae smiled, “I think Meridian is the control center for all of the Vaults.”

“I agree.” Sara nodded, “This might change everything. Maybe if we find Meridian, we can use it to turn on all of the Vaults. Make Heleus live again.”

“Wait, Pathfinder. This is bad.” The Moshae turned to her with her brows deeply furrowed, “The Archon found out where it is. He’s already been there.” Sara took in a sharp breath, “That’s why he tortured me. He thought I could help him use it.”

“But you couldn’t. So he can’t either.”

“Correct.”

“We have to take it from him.” Sara paced back and forth, “It’s too dangerous for him to keep it. It could kill us all if used incorrectly. What if he damages the connection to the Vaults, or Meridian itself? The Cluster would die.”

“Yes, such power at the hands of such evil would mean the end of my kind, and yours.”

“I’ll find it.” Sara nodded, “I don’t know how yet but… I’ll find it.” Sara went to the map and interfaced again. SAM scanned the contents of the charts for their use. Maybe they could find a clue within it. 

“I’ll go to Evfra and secure his full cooperation.” Sjefa told her, “Meet me there. We will stop the Archon, whatever it takes.”

As Sara moved to follow her, SAM interrupted. _**“Sara, one of your father’s memories have unlocked. You may view it at SAM node.”**_

-

“Kadara? You’re joking, right?”

“Wish I was.”

Sara was setting up to head out into Voeld with Peebee, Scott and Jaal. They still had some Resistance fighters to assist and Sara knew they were on a time limit. On top of that, she’d heard about the Remnant on the planet; they needed to gather up the glyphs and start working through their algorithms. She had no idea how complex they would be. Some of the crew was there to see them off.

“Kadara is filled with exiles, scavengers, scum.” Jaal growled, “Are you certain this is a good idea?”

Sara shrugged, “This is the only lead we have to finding the Archon’s flagship. We have to take it and see where it goes, finding the Archon before he can access Meridian is critical.” She checked that her jetpack was in working order, “That said, Voeld needs a little stabilization and I want a look at those Monoliths. Meridian wont do us much good if our people are already dead.”

“But are you certain this Meridian can stabilize these worlds, make them livable?” Cora asked her, “What if it doesn’t work?”

“Then we go back to square one.” Sara jumped up to the driver’s side of the Nomad. “We have to try. We have nothing else, and without these worlds stabilized we may as well be fish food. It’s worth a shot.”

They left out into the snow in the Nomad, and for the next twelve hours they were out there dealing with Kett, investigating the monoliths and trying not to get frostbite. The locals were kind enough, weary but Sara expected that. They even had a chance to liberate a few work camps, to make sure some of these poor Angara didn’t become Kett themselves.

And it seemed that that news had spread like wildfire all across Voeld. Angara came to ask her about it many times, trying to come to terms with what may have happened to their missing friends and family. It wasn’t easy to tell them, but it needed to be done. Sara and Jaal did their best to calm the fears and worries that plagued them; it wasn’t an easy task. 

A lot of the planet was in turmoil, and the Monoliths were not helping. They were much more heavily defended by Remnant than those on Eos had been, Kett were studying one of them, and some of the glyphs were trapped in ice which took time to crack through. If that wasn’t enough the Angara spoke of a great Remnant beast that was somewhere in the mountains; they decided to avoid that for now.

Eventually the group staggered back on board the Tempest; they were frozen, exhausted and wanted nothing more to do with the ice. They’d managed to collect all of the glyphs but Sara immediately recognized the complexity. This would take longer than Eos.

_“The ship manual’s useful. That leg of my workbench needed propping up.”_

Sara could hear them as she entered the Bridge, and she noticed the tenseness in Kallo’s hands when he didn’t hear her there.

“If you bothered reading it, you’d know that the Tempest is an orchestra of new tech.” He sighed, “You can’t just meddle with-”

_“I got this ship launch-ready in record time, Kallo. I know my stuff.”_

“And you don’t have a shred of respect for other people’s.”

Kallo was grumbling a little as Sara approached, “Kal?”

“Oh! Sara.” He turned in surprise, “Sorry you had to hear that.”

Sara’s lips pressed tight as she went to her console, “Have you and Gil been fighting? I know that look.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He told her, “It’s under control.” Sara entered in the Nexus’ coordinates with a yawn, “Besides, you look like you’re about to keel over. Go get some sleep.”

“Hmm.” When the coordinates were entered and she was leaving, Sara gave him a pointed glance, “I know that look.” She repeated to him, the door to the Bridge closing behind her.

When they reached the Nexus everyone breathed a sigh of relief and left the Tempest to see friends or to get some rest in a less cramped place. Kallo watched as Sara, instead of sleeping, left the Tempest and headed quickly toward the tram. He worried, but he knew there wasn’t much he could do at the time. All he could do was keep an eye on her.

-

Sara liked Pathfinder HQ. There was too much Tann involved, his office shared the space, but in general she liked the room. She hoped that one day she wouldn’t be the only Pathfinder around to use it.

Avitus met her there. The militia had picked them up safely and Sara was eager to find out what he knew. “I’m not sure what happened to the Ark.” Avitus told her, “I woke up on the planet among some other colonists. I had to break out of my own stasis pod.”

“I see.” Sara sighed, “If pods are being ejected… I don’t like those odds for the Ark.”

“No. I’m sure Macen is still out there looking for me. We’ve heard about Turian stasis pods and debris all over the cluster but nothing solid. I was going to head out tomorrow, start trying to put the pieces together.”

“Alright.” Sara nodded, “My crew needs a little time to rest after the shit we just dealt with on Voeld, but once you have some solid nav points send them my way. I’ll take a look where I can.”

“Thanks Pathfinder. With luck we’ll find the Ark soon. And Macen.”

Sara smiled a little, “Sounds like you two have some history. We’ll find him Avitus.”

“I know.” He nodded, “We will. We have to.”

Sara met briefly with Kesh before making her way back toward the trams. On her way she saw Scott meeting with Kandros, and it made her stop briefly. Scott was smiling pretty wide at Kandros, and Kandros seemed to be equally enjoying the conversation. She couldn’t really hear it over the bustle of Nexus life but whatever it was, Scott seemed very relaxed, and it made her smile.

_**“Sara, do you want me to prepare your father’s memory?”** _

“No, thanks.” She told SAM as she entered the tram, “You’re going to have to give me a few days.”

_**“Yes Pathfinder. Shall I inform your father you’re here?”** _

“No. Scott will probably go see him. I can’t yet.”

As Sara made her way back to the Tempest, she noticed a crowd in Hydroponics. There were some militia on the outskirts trying to calm them down, but it was very clear that the crowd was angry.

“Pathfinder.” One of the militia greeted as she approached.

“What’s going on?”

“Protesters want their families out of stasis.” He told her, “They’re disrupting operations, and they’re not going quietly. Can you talk to them?”

“I can try.” Sara sighed, activating her Tool. “Hey Kandros, it’s Ryder. Can you send me some more militia to Hydroponics ASAP?”

_“Sure thing Pathfinder. They’re on their way.”_

“Thanks.” She shut off her Tool, moving toward the crowd. They all recognized her immediately. “Alright everyone, settle down. What’s going on here?”

“That’s your ‘new galaxy’ for you.” A Krogan growled, “Making speeches about some fresh start while your kids stay frozen!”

“And it’s all thanks to _you_. I hope you’re happy now.”

Sara’s brow furrowed, “You’re going to have to be more specific than that.”

The Asari looked ready to punch her, “We’ve waited for months for our families to come out of stasis. They should have gone to your outpost.”

“But since you think research is so important, military personnel got bumped down the list. Like my clan brothers.”

“All the reassignments mean they’re in ten different colony blocks now!”

“And my mother just got caught in the middle.”

Sara wanted to scream. She could understand their frustrations, sure, and she felt bad. At the same time, she knew what they were asking for couldn’t be done. “You want me to get your families out of stasis.” Sara nodded, “So let me ask you all something. Where do you suggest we put them?”

“Your outpost on Eos, of course!”

“The one and only outpost we have on a planet that’s highly irradiated, filled with hostile aliens, and with no further room to put anyone until the radiation clears?”

“Uh…”

“Eos isn’t ready yet.” Sara told them. Behind her more militia had shown up to support her, waiting for her word. “We’re in the process of making it habitable, mining resources, figuring out how to use its unique properties to our advantage. All of that takes time. We’re still sending them food from here, the Nexus, because they cant yet set up steady farms. Research was placed at the forefront because we need to know how to use the things we find here, how to survive in a place so different from where we came from.”

“But our families—”

“Would not survive.” She told them pointedly, “Look I’m upset about all of this too, and if I had the power I’d oblige. But right now we don’t have the resources to wake up anyone else. We don’t have the food or the equipment, no place to put them. We start waking up large groups, and everyone here starves. Everyone loses, those awake and those still asleep. Do you understand?”

“We can’t keep waiting for our families to wake up! It’s been fourteen months!”

“Your families would agree that keeping them in stasis is where they are safest.” Sara sighed, “Food doesn’t magically appear in our laps. We need to focus on those who are already awake. If you want to help your families get out of stasis and to someplace that’s safe, then you need to end this and allow Hydroponics to get back to their work. You need to go back to your work and your jobs, do what you can to support the Nexus, and wait until we have the resources. We have more outpost opportunities lined up and I am working as hard and as quickly as I can to make them a reality. They will come, we are gaining a strong footing here and it only continues to grow. If this continues you’ll land in serious trouble, maybe get exiled. Is that what you want? For your families to wake up and find you exiled or dead?”

“I…”

“No.” The Asari sighed, “Don’t. Anythings better than that. Even the longest wait of our lives.”

“Fine. We’ll go. But when our families hear about this…” 

“They’ll agree with the Pathfinder.” One of Kandros’ lieutenants stepped in, “It’s time you let everyone get back to their duties.”

Some of the protesters left begrudgingly. Others had to be escorted out by the militia. Sara stepped aside and let them do their jobs, scrubbing at her eyes. She was too damn tired for this.

“Eesh. That looked pretty nasty.” Sara turned around in surprise at the sudden voice and the tap to her shoulder. She saw a woman standing behind her with an easy and comforting smile. Beyond her, Sara saw Kallo approaching with a rather amused look on his face. Amused, but… was that a glimpse of worry she saw? “Hello there!”

The woman grabbed Sara’s hand, “Sara Zoe, Zoe Sara.” Kallo introduced them quickly, and Zoe shook her hand excitedly. 

“You’re the Pathfinder! Kallo’s told me all about you.” She grinned, “You got us an outpost on Eos! I heard everything!”

“Everything huh?” Sara smirked at Kallo, who looked a little embarrassed at the notion.

“Oh, great things don’t you worry!” Zoe laughed, starting to lead Sara out and away from the still crowded Hydroponics. “Kallo and I saw all of that. Didn’t look too pretty.”

“They’re frustrated and scared. I can’t really blame them.”

“Well I think you’re doing the right thing.” She nodded confidently, taking Sara to the ledge overlooking the Tempest; Kallo followed them quietly. “It’s going to take a lot to bring things back to normal around here, but it’s getting better. And I can’t praise your pilot enough, he’s been helping me out so much these last few months.”

“Really?”

“Yes! I’m sure that things will continue to get better. It might not look like it, but your outpost did give many people hope.”

“Yes… Thank you, Zoe.”

“I really should get back to it.” She hummed, “Continue what you do, Pathfinder. Kallo I expect you to fly her around safely, you hear me?”

“I hear you.” Kallo laughed. 

“Travel safely!” She waved and bounded off quickly, filled with her own energy, and Sara couldn’t help but smile. Kallo came up beside her and leaned into the railing, looking out on the Tempest. Sara didn’t need to ask him any questions, the raised brow she flashed him was all it took. “Zoe’s like that. She takes many matters into her own hands. She didn’t like the protest or the situation it put you in, I had to stop her from starting a brawl with the protesters. Figured two more civilians getting involved wouldn’t help your position at all.” He shrugged.

“Good thing you did,” Sara laughed, “or I’d have been cleaning up a lot more than people’s fears. Who is she anyway?”

“She’s a friend.” Kallo told her, “A widow. Her wife was one of my pilots.”

“The ones you were training to handle the Scourge.”

“Yes. Her wife died under my charge. So I’ve been helping her out where I can, it’s the least I can do. The most is tackling the Scourge once and for all.”

Sara very quickly realized what he was saying, “Helping while you’re out flying the Tempest. You’ve been sending her credits, haven’t you?”

“Any I can, yes. I have everything I need on the Tempest, Zoe’s the one who needs the assistance now.”

A soft smile spread across Sara’s face; she couldn’t be surprised. It was just like him to give everything he had if it would help another. In fact she was rather impressed with him, how could she not be?

Sara activated her Tool without a word. A moment later Kallo’s Tool beeped with a message, and he looked to see that Sara had transfered credits to him.

A lot of credits.

He jerked up to face her in shock, only to be met with her smile. “Being Pathfinder has a lot of perks Kal, meaning I come by a lot of credits. Credits I don’t need or have any use for. You use that to get items you need, and you can give the rest to Zoe.” He looked between his Tool and her in true shock, unsure of how to respond to her. “I think you’re remarkable. You’re trying to help someone who’s lost everything, not everyone would do that. I’m happy to help. This matters to you, so it matters to me too.” She pat his forearm, “If you need something, all you have to do is ask me. I don’t want you going without something just because someone else needs it more.”

_“I think she’d tell you anything you wanted to know if you asked her.”_

Kallo finally found his words, accepting the transfer of credits. “Thank you so much Sara. I… I don’t know how to repay you for this.”

“Repay me?” Sara laughed, “Don’t you even think about it, you already do more than enough. Consider this a gift.”

“You’re… sure?”

“Anything for you Kal.” She smiled, “I’ve got to start work on Voeld’s algorithms. Let me know if you need anything else, alright?”

He stood straight as she tried to leave , “You’re going to get some sleep first, right?”

“Sure.” She waved, but he didn’t believe her, not for a second. He couldn’t help but let her go; at least she was trying.

Sara went back to the Tempest and immediately started on the algorithms. It seemed Suvi and Peebee were working on them too. She knew it would take them a long time to crack these, but she was confident in their abilities. They would crack it. They would make Voeld live again, she swore it to herself. It was the least she could do. 

-

Sara just about jumped to the roof when a heavy crate was dropped on the cargo bay’s floor. “Careful you guys, geez.”

“Sorry Vetra.”

Sara rolled out from under the Nomad to grab a tool she needed, she’d been making some repairs on her break from the algorithms. Working on the Nomad was very comforting. Scott walked up the Tempest’s ramp as the docking hands were leaving, looking curiously at the large crate they’d delivered. “What’s that Vetra?”

“Boxing bag.” She told him, “Managed to track one down for you Sara.”

“Thank god!” Vetra heard her from under the Nomad, and she chuckled. “You’re a lifesaver.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Scott!” Liam called from the upper deck, “Which one of you is older?”

“Scott is!” Sara called out before Scott had the chance.

Scott smirked, “Sara’s older.”

“You’re both assholes.” 

“So we’re told!” Scott laughed, crouching down briefly to check in on Sara, “Need anything sis?”

“Nope. Got all my tools.”

“I couldn’t help but notice you didn’t have breakfast.”

“I was up late.” Sara told him simply, “Algorithms.”

“Alright… Well I’m going to coordinate another Apex mission.”

“Say hi to Kandros for me.”

Scott left for the Apex console, and Sara continued to work. It was a steady day for the Tempest; Gil and Kallo went around making repairs on the ship and, quietly, bickering about it. Suvi and Vetra were on and off the ship all day working with their respective contacts and scientists. Jaal was off exploring the Nexus with great enthusiasm, and Sara had heard something from Peebee about checking on a certain Angara. Drack spent most of his time with his granddaughter, but he came back a few times with parts for Vetra. Liam was taking express interest in colonization and was learning everything he could about Voeld, trying to determine if it could become viable. Sara didn’t hear much from Lexi, but the doctor did stop her briefly to check in and make sure she had taken her medications.

Eventually the ship grew quiet as some of the crew went to Vortex, while others went to bed. Sara worked silently in the galley; she’d stolen Scott’s hoodie and buried herself into the soft fabric, a cup of coffee in front of her. She sipped at it, still hating the taste and cringing each time, but she knew she needed the caffeine. She’d fall asleep without it and the algorithms were extremely complex. She was fully focused on them, trying to figure out how to crack them. Papers were strewn all over the table filled with her so-far failing calculations.

A soft knock on the galley’s doorframe brought her out of her thoughts, and she saw Kallo standing there. “Hey. Thought you were out.”

“I was. Just got back.” Kallo took a glance at her cup and noticed the smell, his eye’s widening ever so slightly. “Coffee?”

“Yeah.” She muttered, turning back to the algorithms.

“But you hate coffee.” 

“Yeah.”

Kallo sighed to himself, glancing over all of the papers that were strewn about the galley. She’d been there awhile. He paid closer attention to her face and noticed the dark circles under her eyes, the disheveled mess of her hair and the overwhelming air of exhaustion.

“Sara.” He started, “You haven’t slept, have you.”

It wasn’t a question, of course it wasn’t. “Guilty as charged.”

“You keep pushing yourself like this and you’ll end up crashing. That wont help anyone.”

Sara groaned aloud and tore away from the algorithms, gathering them all up as she stood. “I’m just trying to work out these algorithms, the vaults wont fix themselves.”

Sara pushed past him and to her room. Kallo was on her heels without hesitation, “No, you’re just avoiding resting and dodging my questions.” The door closed behind him as she stacked the papers up on her desk.

“I’m not dodging your questions.” She muttered.

“Yes you are, you have since Voeld.” Kallo told her, “Come on, I know you.”

“Look it’s— fine, I’m fine.”

“You’re not. You’re just trying to keep yourself busy, you didn’t even check over your calculations like you normally do. Your calculations are usually filled with notes and corrections, those pages are too clean.” Sara sighed heavily; he was right of course, “You’re just too stubborn to admit it.” 

“Are you a mind reader now?”

“Your mind is the only one I really know.” She plopped herself down on the couch with great annoyance, refusing to look at him. He knew just how to push her buttons. She couldn’t be mad at him for that, but she was tired. Kallo was very good at discerning what she needed from what she wanted, usually when even she didn’t actually know what she needed. “What did you see on Voeld Sara?” He asked her carefully.

“I think you know damn well what I saw.”

“You’re the one that needs to deal with it. This running and hiding will only make it harder to move on.” 

“I’m _fine_ Kallo.” She muttered, though significantly quieter and less confident than before. 

Kallo went to her quietly, kneeling down on the floor in front of her and forcing her to look him in the eye, giving her nowhere else to look. He should have expected this, stubbornness indeed ran in the Ryder bloodline. “You’re not fine. You’re barely eating, you’re not sleeping, you’re burying yourself in your work just to exhaust yourself. You remember the last time you did this?”

“Kal-”

“When you came back to Sur’Kesh after your mother died.” Sara groaned and pushed her face into her hands, rubbing at her temples. “Come on Sara, you can’t keep this up. You might fool the rest of them but you can’t fool me. You need to sleep.”

“I can’t sleep.” She blurted out, her voice shaking; Kallo could tell she was on the verge of tears. “I can’t. If I sleep I’ll dream and if I dream I’ll…” She shook her head rapidly, “I can’t involve Scott. He needs his rest and he needs to cope, he got hurt too and my instability is not what he needs right now. God I… I can’t…”

Kallo gently grabbed her shoulders and allowed her to take hold of his arms, allowed her to anchor herself to him. She was shaking ever so slightly; too slight to see with the eye, but he felt it through her hands.

“Use your words. What did you see?” He encouraged her.

Her fingers drug into his arm, but he didn’t complain one bit. “Turning Angara into Kett…” She shook her head. “It’s monstrous. They’re monsters Kal. And it reminds me of… of the Citadel. Those humanoid things that attacked us. I-I can still hear those screams… God, I looked that Kett in the eyes and she was so afraid. And I liked that. I wanted her to fear me.” Her face contorted into that of disgust, “I don’t want to feel like that. I don’t want to do that to anyone. It’s amazing how much I just… didn’t care. And I hate myself for that.” Her head lowered and she closed her eyes, “I kept looking at them like they’re Geth, trying to distance myself from what I was doing but… but I can’t anymore. They were Angara once. What if one of them was… human?”

“Everything you’re doing here is to protect the Initiative.” Kallo told her in the most comforting voice he could muster, “They’re the aggressors, not you.”

“Doesn’t really matter. I’ve still killed living beings. I could handle the Geth, they’re too similar to robots but… I can’t with them. I hate them but… I hate me for hating them.” She took a deep breath and let it out very slowly, “My dad promised us so many things. But all this death and destruction, rebellion and hostile aliens and angry colonists who have every right to be discouraged. How did this all become so… convoluted?”

“It’s not your fault.”

“Really?” She laughed dryly, “Everyone else seems to think it is.”

“They all just scared. Everyone’s scared.” Kallo told her, “That doesn’t make it your fault.”

“… You too?” She asked in a small voice.

“No— Alright, yes. A little bit.” An incredulous hiccup of a laugh escaped her, “But we’re here to stay, and we’re here together, right? We’ll figure this out. We’ll make Heleus home. And I don’t think I’m the only one who’s completely confident in you and your abilities. We’ve made more progress in this short time than we had in fourteen months because you led us there, and that means something. This isn’t what we expected, but we can both make the most of this. Okay?”

Sara nodded a little bit, trying to say something but losing the words. She instead leaned forward and pressed her forehead into Kallo’s, her eyes shut tightly as she tried to calm herself down, tried not to cry. He stayed there and played with the curls in her hair absently, allowing her to simply breathe in the silence, letting her take her time.

“Want me to stay?” He asked quietly. She nodded once. 

So Kallo stayed with her, eventually coaxing her into going to bed. It took a while for her to fall asleep, she was restless but also too tired to keep herself awake while not working, and eventually she drifted off. He stayed in the chair nearest to her bed and worked on his reports while Sara slept lightly, tossing and turning and talking in her sleep. 

Sometimes he picked up a few words, but most of them were jumbled. She spoke of captured Angara and the missing Arks, Scott and her father, he even heard her say his own name once. After three hours she woke up with a scream, reaching and calling out to something that wasn’t there. Kallo was able to comfort her and calm the nightmares, and she eventually fell asleep again; this time she stayed asleep, and even Kallo eventually dozed off in the chair.

When he woke up Sara was awake, eating a snack and scrolling through reports from Bradley on Eos, looking a little better than she had the night before; more alert, and she smiled softly at him when he greeted her. He knew she would still need time, but she could continue to work with the crew like she was alright, she could still continue as Pathfinder for all the people in the Initiative who needed her; and he would be there when she couldn’t hold the weight alone.

He had meant it. He’d do anything.


	19. Delegation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec has to allow himself some time to heal, and to grow.

**_Alec~_ **

Alec was going nuts. Stir fry crazy. If he had to listen to one more informational vid on their now non-existent Golden Worlds he was going to scream.

In fact, it was about the only thing he could listen to in med bay for a long time. He laid there begrudgingly healing as Dunn refused to allow him to work and Harry practically bound him to the bed just to keep him there. He was so thankful when, finally, Dunn agreed to start sending him the reports she was getting from Nexus to review, if for no other reason than to shut him up. Finally he had something to do.

Sara was already making huge strides. The founding of Prodromos on Eos was proof of concept; colonization was possibly, and he couldn’t have been more proud. However it was these Kett that bothered him, that made him worry with each new report that came in. The Kett were merciless, and that was putting a kind spin on it. And both of his children were stuck in the middle of it. He spent much of his time writing to Kandros on strategy against the Kett; his time as an N7 gave weight to his words and it helped to shape how the militia trained. He hoped one day he could be there to supervise it himself; he didn’t know when that would be.

The time in med bay did give him plenty of time to think on his own. He was always moving, always doing something; now, he could do nothing but think. He went through thousands of old pictures and videos over and over again, life with Ellen and his kids, the times he was there anyway. Looking at them all at once gave him a rather large slap to the face of just how little he was present as Sara and Scott were growing up. He couldn’t help that guilty feeling washing over him.

He also couldn’t help the guilt that would come once Sara began unlocking memory triggers, things he never thought he’d be alive for. But he’d survived, and he would be there when she found out about the things he’d done; and while Alec was terrified, he also knew he had to face her. There was no backing down from this. 

For a long time he was stuck in his bed fielding reports from Dunn, with Harry checking in on him and his recovery process. It seemed very possible that he would never run again. Even if he could get to that point, his physical capabilities would always be limited, even with synthetic assistance. He was determined to at least get himself walking again; that much he had to achieve. 

It took a lot of convincing, but finally Harry gave in and allowed him to start some physical therapy. It was a slow process, but he remembered much of what Sara went through in this similar situation. He worked at it, and after awhile he was finally able to stand up and walk slowly, albeit with the use of a cane. At least he could get out of that damn med bay— the Nexus was a bit too much of a walk for him to make the trek every day, but he could make it between Hyperion operations, his quarters and med bay with varying levels of difficulty but not impossibility. 

_“These protests are becoming a problem.”_ Addison told him over his Tool. Alec scrubbed at his face; she’d said it three times already. 

“What do you want me to do about it? I can calm one fearing citizen but I can’t calm half the damn population.”

_“Your words would hold weight.”_ She said, _“People need to know that things are turning around.”_

“They can see it.” Alec sighed, “My kids are out there right now fixing your damn mess.”

_“That’s precisely why your words would do the people good. The progress is too slow for them.”_

“Progress doesn’t have to be fast to be effective. You’ve already recorded my words to filter over Nexus news. There’s not much else I can do about these protesters. You know who can? The Director; Tann just needs to start acting like a leader to calm their fears and give them new hope in the Initiative. My daughter’s done a better job and we just got here.”

_“Oh you know my thoughts on that situation.”_ She grumbled.

“Anything else?”

_“Our embassies were hoping that you could speak with the Angaran ambassador. They arrive tomorrow.”_

Alec hummed, “Why’s that?”

_“Many of the Angara have stated their deep respect of Sara’s actions to broker peace, but they’re still very weary of us. You know the Initiative better than most, and being the father of the one who saved one of their most revered elders is a huge bonus. They’d hoped that you would be able to calm the ambassador’s fears about our people, ensure the transition into their embassy goes smoothly. This would be a job for an active Pathfinder, but given our current situation…”_

“I see your point.” Alec nodded, “Let them know I’ll be there to oversee the transition.”

_“Thanks Alec.”_

An Angaran embassy. It was a day he’d trained himself to prepare for but hadn’t really expected; yet, here they were, inviting a new alien race onto the Nexus, the first in Andromeda. He hoped it would continue to grow and not end up as another Kett fiasco. He supposed it was his job now to help make it so.

Alec made his way back to his room, finding the door unlocked when he got there. He entered with his guard up, only to find that Sara was sitting at his desk listening to the audio files he’d encrypted with the memory triggers. She’d unlocked one. He stood there and waited as she went through the logs about SAM’s development, and his talks with the Shadow Broker. He couldn’t see her face but he saw the tenseness in her shoulders; the spitting image of himself, so Ellen once said.

“Damn Geth.” He heard her mutter under her breath. Finally when she was through, he loudly cleared his throat to let her know he was there. The reaction he got was not one he was actually prepared for; Sara gasped, jumped out of the chair and pressed back into the desk, whipping around to face him. He saw that he’d scared her badly from sneaking up on her like that, but it wasn’t at all normal. It was the kind of fear that spawned from war, the type that he saw in the eyes of soldiers he’d worked with all throughout his life. When they constantly thought someone had a gun on their back.

“Dad.” She breathed out a huge exhale, leaning hard into the desk with relief, calming herself down. 

“Sorry. I should have known better.”

“No it’s okay.” She brushed it off as if it had never happened in the first place, but of course she knew he’d caught it.

Alec moved to sit down on the couch with a pained wince. “Want to… I don’t know, talk about it?” He managed, cringing at his own words. She raised a brow at him as amusement flashed across her face, “Yeah, the words aren’t coming naturally.”

She giggled and nodded, a laugh that sounded so much like Ellen. “Yes I agree, keep working at it.” She sat herself down in the office chair, “I didn’t expect you to be up and walking yet.”

Alec shrugged lightly, “Hey, if you can do it so can I. They gave me a cane and everything.”

“Are you in pain?”

“It’s not so bad, don’t worry.”

Sara nodded and took a breath, knowing what he really meant and also knowing to change the subject. “So what’s with you and the Shadow Broker huh? Figured you’d be the last one to tango with shadows.”

“I couldn’t continue work on SAM without his help.” Alec sighed, “Never said I was proud of that.”

“You risked a lot.”

“In retrospect, probably too much.” He nodded, “But this is a new galaxy. Things will change here.”

Sara hummed, “I’d argue things are already changing.”

“I heard.” He smiled at her, “I’m getting quite a few reports from Nexus. These protests will calm down, just watch. You disrupted the schedule with Prodromos and the Angara, it’ll take some time for the population to get used to things going well.”

“I have no idea what I’m going to say to the Angara.”

“Addison called me about that. I agreed to work with the Angara, help smooth over the transition.”

“Really?” He brows raised again, “Well isn’t this day full of surprises. I thought I was going to have to deal with them.”

“You don’t think you can?” Alec asked her. 

Sara let out a snort, “Me, dealing with the politics? Pain in the ass if you ask me.” She shrugged, “I don’t have the finesse you and Scott do. I can’t… mold my words. I know the truth and I speak the truth and a lot of people consider that to be too blunt. I think I might have caused a bigger problem with the protesters the other day instead of solving the problem. And the Angara are a very… emotionally open people. I fear my blunt words will cause insult. Our relationship with them is just too new and I don’t know what the boundaries are yet.” She sighed heavily, “They’ve been through so much dad. Did they tell you what we found on Voeld?”

“No. Scott mentioned seeing something worthy of nightmares but nothing specific.”

Sara nodded, “The Kett are turning Angara into them. Modifying their genetics, altering their minds, creating disposable soldiers out of the Angara. Moshae Sjefa said it’s the Kett’s version of reproduction but… I don’t know. They’ve been fighting the Kett for eighty years. They need to know undoubtedly that we are on their side. Make no mistake, they could destroy us if given reason to. Their people are survivors.”

“I will keep that in mind.” Alec hummed in deep thought, “So that’s what the Kett want… that is good for us though.”

Sara jerked her head to him with shock in her eyes, “How is that good?”

“Gives me new tactics to consider. New ways to train APEX and our militia. And it means that if the Kett attack any outposts we create they’ll want to take the people alive, which limits the types of attacks they can stage.”

“… I suppose I haven’t been able to view this situation from a military perspective.”

“Don’t worry Sara, we have everything under control back here.” He smiled confidently, “You just worry about the safety of yourself and your crew out there, find us more places to settle so we can spread our people out and gather more resources. It’ll be okay.”

She smiled a little bit at his confident words, nodding slightly. “We found Avitus Rix.” She told him, eager to change the subject. “Still looking for Macen Barro and the other Arks. I was wondering… did you know the other Pathfinders?”

“Of course I did.” He nodded, “Matriarch Ishara and Zevin Raeka, Asari and Salarian respectively. I do hope you find Macen; I’ve never met a kinder, more eager Turian in my life. A damn good engineer too, you two would make a fantastic engineering team. He’s the type who’d do just about anything for a friend. Ishara is a wise woman, powerful, and I’m confident in saying that she is better equipped than anyone else here to handle diplomatic situations. She and I never saw eye to eye, in fact I think she wanted to punch me more often than not, but I deeply respect her and I hope I earned her respect in turn. Raeka I know much better, in fact she became a very close friend of mine.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely. She’s not your typical Salarian. We got on very well, spoke to each other quite often about Initiative and private matters. She’s very…” Alec grinned, “Strong-willed and extremely intelligent, that’s what I’ll go with. I’d rather not piss her off.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Not in the slightest.” He laughed, “Zevin Raeka could kick my ass, no questions asked. She never would of course, Raeka’s endlessly compassionate, but she definitely _could_.”

Sara laughed at that, “Duly noted.” Sara stood up and stretched a little, “I should be getting back. Good luck with the Angara.”

“Stay safe out there.”

“I’ll do my best.” Sara headed for the door, but she stopped just before it. She turned to him with a smile, “Just so you know dad, I like it when we talk like normal people.” She left the room, and Alec couldn’t help but chuckle just a tiny bit. 

Like mother, like daughter.

-

“We’ll be happy to help your guards secure their weapons.”

“I’d prefer them armed. You understand, of course.”

Alec had heard it before as he entered the cultural center. The caution was understandable, and he approached as quietly and respectfully as he could. These Angara were strange at first glance, but he had to admit this was already much better than the Human’s first contact had been.

“Ah, Ryder. Thank you for coming.” Their liaison smiled, “This is the head of the Angaran delegation.”

“Call me Isa de Navar.” The Angara introduced himself with a respectful nod. It seemed he was male, and spoke with a quiet confidence that Alec instantly respected.

“Alec Ryder. We’re happy to welcome you to the Nexus ambassador. This is a day for the history books.”

“I just wonder what they’ll say. Ryder, hmm? The one who saved the Moshae goes by a similar name. She speaks highly of this… Pathfinder?”

“Yes, that’s my daughter.” 

“I see. I am pleased to know that family transcends galaxies.”

“I was just explaining to the ambassador that armed guards aren’t necessary here.”

Alec nodded, “I understand. Please join me for a moment, ambassador?” Isa politely walked with Alec out of the cultural center where they would not be so easily overheard, to an overlook of the docking bay. It was a little quieter and he hoped it would ease the ambassador’s tenseness. “I would like you to know that I remember when my people first discovered the rest of our galaxy. First contact can be a… difficult experience.”

“It is fortunate your first contact went better than ours did.”

“My daughter told me what the Kett do to your people.”

“Hmm.” Isa looked out over the docking bay, “So much life. All different, all united. The way it could have been…” He sighed, “Nearly eighty years ago we were scattered, struggling to rebuild after the Scourge. Then the Kett arrived. Alien life-- It was… monumental. But then they deceived and enslaved us. So I hope you understand my precautions.”

“I do. I understand completely.” Alec told him, “Humanity’s first contact with the other species you see here, the Turians, Salarians, Asari— we shot at each other. But then we realized mistakes had been made, and we began negotiations. That led to everything you see here; a unified effort to explore the unknown. We don’t want a repeat of history Ambassador. What can I do to ease your concerns?”

“I want to believe in this alliance. The Moshae trusts the Pathfinder implicitly. I spoke with her on our arrival, she was very…”

“Blunt?”

Isa chuckled, “Yes. More so than many Angara I know. But the Moshae still believes in her. Help me trust you.”

“We’re not here to be strangers.” Alec started, “We want this to be a mutual relationship between our people. Everything we have, everything you see; technology, knowledge and information, support, we’re willing to share. We have nothing to hide here.”

“And what would you ask for in return?”

“Whatever your people are willing to give. You’ve endured much, and both of our peoples are strained for resources. But with a solid alliance we can help each other rebuild and grow. The Kett can’t stop that so long as we work together.”

Isa nodded, a rather peaceful and thoughtful look on his face. “My guards will surrender their weapons, if that will ease tensions.”

“It would. Thank you ambassador. If you need anything, we’re happy to help. Ask for me by name if that would make it easier, or our Pathfinder. We’re on your side.”

“A peaceful contact between aliens… I never thought I’d see the day. Paavoa set jave jarevaon, Alec Ryder. ‘Welcome to Andromeda’. Give our regards to the Pathfinder.”

Alec breathed out a sigh as Isa went back to the cultural center. It had gone well, and he was honestly shocked. 

Things really were looking brighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is a little shorter, but I wanted to spend a little time with Alec and explore a small portion of his recovery. The next chapter should be longer! =)


	20. Normality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew is finally started to get slightly used to the strangeness of Heleus, and Sara forms something of a connection with Cora.

Sara watched from the entrance to the Tempest’s docking platform, leaning into the frame silently. On the platform was Kallo, Vetra, Scott, Suvi, Peebee and Drack, all chatting amongst one another amid some supplies they’d been brought. They were laughing away and enjoying each other’s company, and it brought a smile to her face-- especially seeing Kallo so happy and contented after fourteen months of hardship.

She hadn’t had a word for what she’d been feeling. She wasn’t sure she had one now; it was as if she’d never been without him in the first place. She spent her life in a world she couldn’t let anyone else into, couldn’t trust anyone else with the words. It wasn’t like that with Kallo. Not only did she let him in on her world, he had accepted her. He took the truth and kept it close, hid it from the world just as fervently as she did; he had a window into her mind, an understanding like no one else did, and she’d never noticed it happening before it felt this natural.

The feeling was new to her. The desire to protect someone beyond herself. The trust that she could let down the curtains that protected her and know he wouldn’t hurt her with it. Just in the way he looked at her, so sincere and accepting; the energy and kindness and passion as familiar as her own. It was hard for her to remember what it was like before she’d met him.

There was a word for this, there had to be.

“You’re making moon-eyes.”

Sara turned her attention to Cora, who’d made herself comfortable on the opposite side of the entrance. She hadn’t noticed Cora approaching.

“… Am I?”

Cora laughed, “Oh yes, with a great big smile to boot. Do I even need to guess which one you’ve been staring at?”

Sara blinked a few times and realized what she’d meant, sighing slightly, “It’s that obvious huh?”

“Yup.”

Sara groaned and scrubbed at her face, feeling the embarrassed flush on her cheeks. “That’s just great.”

Cora was quiet for a minute, seemingly very relaxed and not as emotional as she had been. She watched the group as Sara did, but occasionally glanced over at her. “I heard from Scott that you were having trouble with your biotics.” She started once she felt ready to bring it up.

“I didn’t realize you and my brother had been talking that much.”

“We’ve been discussing tactics and biotic usage. He mentioned he was going to help you once things calmed down.”

“Yeah.” Sara shrugged, “It only happened once but… it would be nice to be able to control my biotics beyond making a temporary shield. New galaxy, new dangers.”

Cora hummed, nodding thoughtfully, “You know… I could help, if you want.”

“You want to?”

“Why not?” She smiled, “Three heads are better than two.”

Sara chuckled, “I’ll take all the help I can get at this point.” She fell quiet for a moment as a loud bout of laughter came from the group, who still hadn’t even noticed Sara or Cora. “Do we have a problem, Cora?”

“I don’t want us to.”

“I don’t either. But if there is, I’d like to know about it.”

“Hmm.” Cora took in a slow breath to gather her own thoughts, and Sara waited. “Did you know I spent four years in an Asari Commando unit? Talein’s Daughters. Part of the council’s ‘cross species military integration initiative’.”

“Really?”

“Well I was born on a little cargo freighter, and when I was young my biotics could warp a steel girder. Having that kind of untrained power surrounded by the vacuum of space was… not ideal. The Alliance taught me how to control my biotics, but the Commando’s trained me to use them. I studied battle manuals written by Sarissa Theris and worked my hardest to be the best Huntress I could. We did good work, peacekeepers in Asari space. For the first time I felt like I belonged. But then…” Cora sighed, “Then my CO and mentor, Nisira, said I should go. She told me the Initiative would be better for me. I didn’t want to but… she insisted.”

“I’m sorry.”

“One big kick out of the nest. It hurt. It’s familiar though, when your biotics are honed into huntress-grade weapons, people can be weird about it.” She told her, “Being a huntress suited me fine, but I guess Nisira disagreed. Then I met this jerk named Alec Ryder. He told me ‘I know what it’s like to be different. Now imagine a place where we’re welcome, and we can make others feel welcome’. A new galaxy where everyone had a place… I wanted to have a place. Alec made me wonder what it would have been like if someone had told me that my biotics were okay. I trained like hell with your father to make it okay. I gave the Initiative everything I had. I had this… daydream about planting a rose garden in Heleus. I didn’t get to have a garden on that freighter, only saw them in vids, but I loved them; I wanted my own rose garden, something beautiful in Andromeda. I thought I knew what I was going to be.”

“And then Habitat 7.” Sara sighed, nodding slowly, “I see.”

“I didn’t need to be rejected like that, not again, but… I suppose it is familiar all over again. Didn’t think it would still sting now. Nisira, your father, even my parents… they leave, and I’m left without answers and nowhere to stand.”

“It’s okay that it hurts.” She told Cora, “It’s natural. You got screwed. And I’m sorry it happened.”

“Look Sara, I don’t have a problem with you. And I don’t want us to be at odds with each other. You’re doing well, considering you had no training. Being your second isn’t so bad. I’ve been pouring all these thoughts into searching for the Asari Ark. Nothing yet but… it keeps me busy. And helping you with your biotics, maybe the two of us will have an easier time seeing eye to eye.”

Sara chuckled a little, and Cora shot her a strange look, as if she hadn’t expected the sound. “Cora I think you and I already see eye to eye. We want to make Heleus a safe home. We’re both just stubborn assholes about it.”

That prompted a rather incredulous laugh from Cora, “You more than me, it seems.”

“Damn straight. I think we can get along. I do want you to know, I am honored that you’re my second. There’s precious few I’d trust more to watch my back. I hope I can become a decent enough fighter to watch yours in turn.”

She smiled, “Give it time Pathfinder.” She shifted and motioned to the group, “So tell me why you’re out here. Is it because of Kallo? I’ve seen the way you two look at each other.”

“Pfffft.” Sara rolled her eyes, but all in good fun. “There’s nothing between me and Kallo.”

“Yet.”

Sara snorted and shot her a fake glare, only making Cora chuckle “There’s not much to tell, really. My entire life I was groomed and trained to be the genius humanity thought it needed. Trained to be perfect and to be ‘the answer’. I wanted to use my intelligence to help people but… I got tired of being pushed around by everyone who expected me to fit into their visions of my future. Then I was contacted by the Initiative to build the Tempest; for the first time I was working on a project outside of the Alliance and humanity, something for all people of all races, for a new galaxy at that. Life is short, it’s fleeting, and I knew that I wanted more for myself than to sit with the Alliance for the rest of my life. I wanted more than that. I wanted to prove to myself that I could be more than that, that I wasn’t just a brain people used when they needed it and ignored when they didn’t. I wanted to be… Sara. Not a tool, just Sara. I signed up under their condition that I use my mind on the Engineering front here, but that never meant I couldn’t live my own personal life for once. To help people on my own terms.” She shook her head, “I just never expected this. Got myself in over my head, now it’s time to deal with it. Life moves forward whether you’re ready or not, and if you’re not ready it’s time to buckle down and get to work to make yourself ready.”

“I take it your father’s work with AI didn’t help matters.”

“No. But even before that fallout I was seen as nothing more than a walking computer by the galactic community. After dad’s career collapsed they saw me as a walking computer with secrets, secrets I didn’t actually have but people feared anyway. Some even thought I was involved when I quite clearly wasn’t. I was stuck programming launch codes on Luna after that whole fiasco so the Alliance could keep an eye on me, before the Tempest became an option. Scott was always my rock, the one who saw me as normal and human and flawed. But Kallo… he was the first ever to see me as Sara. Not as a Ryder, not as a sibling, as Sara. He wasn’t part of my family, had no reason at all to get to know me, but he did. He never thought of me as a computer, he saw me for me, and he stayed. It’s funny, I was accepted into the Initiative before he was. It just seemed natural that we’d both end up here.”

“And you’re so close because of it.”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm.” Cora smiled, “You know Sara, I enjoy us just talking like this.”

“I do too. Perhaps we should do this more often.”

Cora feigned being offended, “You mean to gossip?” She grinned, “I’d like that.” Sara laughed along with her, and finally tensions between them began to melt away. It wasn’t gone, but it was a start.

“Cora? Did you bring those battle manuals with you?” Sara asked her.

“Of course. Why?”

“If you’re not actively using them, I’d like to borrow a few. At least some of the ones you found helpful.”

The look of shock on Cora’s face was completely worth the tensions they’d endured, “You want to read them?”

“Absolutely.” Sara nodded with a smile, “I don’t know if I’ll understand, but I’d like to try. I’d like to understand your world in some small way. It’s obviously important to you.”

“I…” Cora was flabbergasted to say the least, “Sure. Sure, I’ll send you a few.”

“Thanks Cora.” Sara grinned, then turned her attention to the group. It was about that time to leave, so she started toward the group, “Alright slackers! Lets get these on board and get back out there.”

Cora couldn’t help but smile after her, watching the group respond to Sara’s words without question. Perhaps it really wouldn’t be so bad.

—

“Why’d you call a meeting Ryder?”

“Wasn’t me.”

“I did.” Drack spoke up, “Just got word from Elaaden, there’s a lot of tensions at the Krogan colony. It’s bad.”

“Tension among Krogan? You don’t say.”

“I wouldn’t waste your time with this if it wasn’t important.” Drack looked to Sara, “We need to go.”

“I agree.” Vetra spoke up, “Nakmor Morda made herself ‘Overlord’ of the colony. It’s weird.”

Jaal sighed, “No. Our priority is the Archon. We have to remain focused.”

“I agree with Jaal.” Cora nodded.

Sara shook her head, “Our priority is making sure this cluster doesn’t fall apart. The Archon is a part of that but so are localized problems. We all need to hear each other out.”

“Well as long as we’re pitching stuff,” Peebee shrugged, “I’ve been hearing chatter about activity in the Remav system.”

“No! That’s the system where the Turian golden world was supposed to be.”

“Remav?” Jaal hummed, “There aren’t any viable planet there— only an asteroid field with mining ventures run by criminals.”

“Hmm. Could be a lead on the Turian Ark though.” Sara nodded, deep in thought. “We’re not limiting our options. Give nav points to Kallo for both Elaaden and that supposed-to-be golden world in Remav.”

“Are you sure about Kadara Skater?” Scott asked, “As Initiative we’ll probably not be welcomed there.”

“We have to try. We need to get to Vehn Terev no matter what. I’ll kick in Sloane Kelly’s doors if I have to.”

“Lets leave that as a last resort.” Liam laughed.

“I’ve heard the Port is now a cease-fire zone, so we should be alright for landing, at the very least.”

“Alright.” Sara nodded, “Lets do this.”

-

Sara was eternally grateful for the boxing bag. 

She recruited Drack to help her set it up in the cargo bay. They used three separate chains for safety’s sake, to ensure that it wouldn’t go flying if the Tempest had to take evasive action in a dangerous situation. It swung without hitting anything around it, even when Drack punched it, so Sara dug out her boxing gloves, threw on a sports bra and went out to get in a few good hits.

It was set up just in time, so far as she was concerned. After now weeks of running all over the cluster, planet to planet trying to gain a footing, and nightmares haunting her every night, she could use the time to blow off a little steam. After awhile both Kallo and Scott joined her in the hold, and the remainder of the crew came in and out of conversations, staying for a few minutes before moving on to a new task.

“I’m just saying,” She grumbled as she boxed, “Finding ancient Angara what’s-their-faces on top of a giant monolith telling me to go find an heirloom to make another Angara remember a past life defies the laws of… everything ever.”

“You found the final glyphs at least.”

“After this Angara, who was a Rokaar and trying to kill us, put on an ancient gauntlet and _remembered a past life_! It makes no goddamn sense.” Sara groaned, “Then we failed to save Thaldyr, the Moshae was kind enough to help us find Aksuul and he _still_ refused to talk to me, and I’m pretty sure the Rokaar are a lot more dangerous than the Moshae wants to believe.”

“You would be correct.” Jaal nodded.

“And don’t even get me started on the complexity of Voeld’s algorithms. Then we leave Vehn to be executed in exchange for the information on a Kett transponder, a transponder we can’t currently crack yet. Sloane Kelly is a bitch that I want to personally punch in the face, Reyes is a smuggler, and Kadara is about as sane as a Pyjack on crack. Then we go to Elaaden and find the Krogan being led by nut job Morda--”

“You’re not wrong about her being a nut job.” Drack laughed from across the hold.

“— and THEN we go out into the desert only to find Turian stasis pods we can’t save and a giant worm that somehow has no problem with the sands; and through the heat of the desert we somehow managed to get our hands on all of the glyphs, and _still_ we need to go back and find a remnant drive core for Morda, which I’m not convinced she should even _have_. There is sand in my armor where sand should not ever be. We haven’t even made it out to Remav yet but you bet your ass it’ll be a shit show there too. Did I miss anything?”

“Well…” Cora cut in with a laugh, “I did hear just an hour or so ago about some Asari refugee’s from Ark Leusinia showing up at Prodromos. They might know where the Ark is.”

“Really?” Sara stopped briefly in her boxing, “Well there’s our next stop for you Kallo, you were asking.”

“Thank you.” He laughed as she continued her boxing, tapping away at his datapad.

“I swear, the least this system could do is run off of some kind of logic.”

Scott shrugged his shoulders lightly, standing beside the bag— he grabbed it when it swung too far so Sara didn’t have to change her position. “Perhaps you should view this as new forms of logic instead of it being illogical, yeah?”

Sara huffed and took a swing much harder than the others. “Maybe I’ll consider it if they start breaking the laws of physics.”

“Don’t the gravity wells do that?”

“ _NOPE_! Not another word from you.” Laughter ran like waves through the ship. It was peaceful in a way, calming, something normal and away from the exhaustion they were all starting to feel.

“Boy Sara, you sure aren’t shy about yourself are you?” Peebee joked from the upper level, watching her box beside Jaal. Sara stopped briefly but still took little hops on her toes, a wide grin forming on her face at the change of topic.

“You kidding? You think I wouldn’t show off a body like this?” She motioned to herself jokingly. “What’s the point in working out otherwise?”

“Ladies and gentlemen, I give you ‘The Initiative’s Sexiest Investment’!” Liam laughed as he took the lift downward. “I’m not the only one enjoying the view.”

“Har har, very funny Liam.” Sara returned to the boxing, still grinning at the light-hearted banter. 

“You show off those curves to just anybody?” Peebee playfully jumped into the flirting, which only made Sara laugh harder.

“You going to tackle me to get that answer Peebee?”

Peebee grinned, “Oh I’ll tackle you anytime you want me to Pathfinder.”

“Get a room first!” Gil called from the Drive Core, making everyone laugh that much harder.

Jaal watched curiously at Sara’s boxing, tilting his head ever so slightly. “Sara, do humans normally turn a rainbow of colors?”

Sara paused in confusion, furrowing her brows at him, “What?”

“Your arms.” 

“OH!” Sara gasped, realizing that every tattoo she had was very clearly visible to them in a myriad of colors. Most of them had never seen her tattoos before. “They’re tattoos Jaal. Your people have them too.”

“Ah. The markings we wear are symbolic. Tell me, what do your ‘tattoo’s’ signify?”

“Nothing important.” She shrugged, returning to her boxing. “It’s just fun. Things I like, space and mathematics and color and dancing and memories of Earth. See this one? It’s an Earth tree, a cherry blossom. And this here is an artistic version of the Milky Way. And this one, this is the first tattoo I ever got. Some mean more than others.”

“Fascinating. I’m surprised I haven’t seen more of them.”

“Oh some people find getting them painful. But honestly, it only hurts a little bit. It’s the itching that’s a pain in the ass.”

“I see… wait, it’s painful?”

“Pathfinder!” Suvi called out into the middle of their conversation, “Bradley sent a distress call from Prodromos. It’s up in the meeting room.”

“A distress call?” She stopped boxing, beginning to unfasten the gloves, “Strange… thanks Suvi. Kallo lets start heading towards Eos, nows as good a time as any.”

-

Dealing with the Rokaar was easy enough. They’d been setting up to attack Prodromos, but a quick bait switch took care of that issue real quick. It was a little bit too easy, in fact, even if Aksuul was starting to piss her off.

Talking to the refugees was infinitely harder. They were shaken; the Leusinia had been attacked by Kett and they didn’t know where it was. They had a very small lead, but it was all the way out in Voeld, and they didn’t have the equipment for the cold. That would require a trip back to the Nexus.

As it got late the crew took the opportunity to sit and enjoy some food outside in fresh air for once, just outside of Prodromos. The light breeze was refreshing and in the not-so-far distance they watched a Fiend and some other animals running about in and out of caves. It was nice to have the break.

“I bet I could ride that Fiend.” Sara said aloud rather suddenly, squinting at the large creature curiously.

“Don’t do it.” Lexi warned her.

“I bet I could.”

“You absolutely could.” Peebee grinned.

“It’s a bad idea.” Vetra agreed with Lexi with a firm nod.

“I just use the jump jet.”

“Kallo, do something.”

Kallo laughed lightly, “If you think I can stop her you don’t know her.”

“Scott?”

He shrugged, “I think she can.” Lexi glared hard at him, to the point where he actually scooted back from her, “I mean… bad idea sis, don’t do it, you’re going to get hurt, oh no it’s a travesty.” He deadpanned, sipping at his juice.

“Sara I will pay you a hundred credits if you ride that Fiend.” Peebee told her.

“Done.” Sara stood up in an instant, grabbing her sniper rifle on the way.

“Are we even on the planet right now?” Vetra asked in pure worried annoyance.

“Relax, I got this.”

Sara took her sniper rifle and moved away from the group so they wouldn’t get caught up in it. Then she took aim and fired at the Fiend. It hit its headplate, only acting to annoy the beast. The Fiend roared and charged at Sara.

With a grin and a laugh, Sara waited as it ran towards her, stowing her rifle. Then, at the exact right time, she used her jump jet to blast straight upward. She had calculated the timing perfectly, and landed straight on its back. 

Sara flailed to grab one of its plates as the Fiend jumped and ran, trying to shake her off of him. Most of the group was cheering and laughing as Sara rode on its back. They could hear Sara yelling in pure delight as she completed the challenge. That is, until she saw the cliffs.

In its combined anger and panic, the Fiend was headed right for the cliffs. Sara pulled out her pistol and aimed for the skin between its headplates and neckplates, a faster end than a fall off a cliff. She managed the shot; the Fiend reared back with a pained roar, sending her flying into the nearby rocks with a shriek. It fell down the cliff, leaving them in silence.

When Sara didn’t immediately get up, Scott and Peebee ran out to check on her. Everyone else could hear her start to laugh loudly, and when Scott pulled her up he kicked at her angrily, yelling something about making him worry; she ran, still laughing, bloody nose and all. She was absolutely glowing.

“I swear.” Vetra sighed in exasperation, “Kallo this cannot be the same person you talked about. Sara’s getting crazier every day.”

“No.” He smiled wide, “No this is the real Sara. Crazy recklessness and all.”

As the day wore on and the group went back to the Tempest, Sara stayed out with Scott and Cora to work on controlling her biotics. It was tough for her, extremely tough, but she was trying.

“You need to control your breathing.” Scott told her, “Firm breaths, in and out. Just like when you’re sniping.”

“Yeah this is a bit different.” She grunted.

“You’re too scared of your biotics.” Cora noticed, “They wont hurt you as long as you keep control over them. You’re the strength here so act like it. You control it.”

They worked at it for a long time. Sara was, after awhile, able to produce a barrier around herself, but not around anyone else. Her biotic punches weren’t strong, at least not any stronger than they had been on the Citadel, but it was enough for the time being, she hoped.

Eventually Scott was called back to the Tempest to deal with a problem with Apex; Sara noticed how quickly he responded to Kandros’ request, leaving Sara and Cora to their own devices.

“Okay so, _theoretically_ speaking.” Sara started as they took a short break, staring off into the distance, “If I did want there to be… something…” Cora tilted her head a little, realizing where this was going, “Any ideas on how to… I don’t know, go about that?”

Cora chuckled a little bit, “Maybe try being honest with him about it.”

“I’m honest about everything else.” She sighed, “He’s everything and I have no finesse or tact or…” She groaned to herself, scrubbing at her eyes, “He probably doesn’t think about such things anyway. I could live the rest of my life just being friends but… you know. Life is short.”

Cora shrugged, “Won’t know until you ask.”

“Yeah.” Sara dryly laughed, “That’ll be the day.”

Scott was making his way back and they share a look with a small smile. The conversation was not going beyond them. It was nice to finally have something of a connection, the true beginnings of a friendship.

-

She felt pain all over her body. Blood and sweat and dirt and grime, the sickening smell of death consuming everything else. Her left eye dark, her right eye crying.

The hideous screeching, the lights of Geth soldiers dancing in the corner of her eye. The crying and whimpering of children. Kallo screaming her name, getting farther and farther away.

The Citadel falling apart with them inside. Those humanoid creatures, those… _husks_ , tearing apart flesh and bone. The walls blowing away in fire, the floor falling into a black abyss, the death of everything she’d ever known. She had no plan. She had no ideas. Her knowledge couldn’t help her here. She had no escape.

And like almost every night before, Sara woke screaming, alone in her dark bedroom, hardly able to breathe. Still unable to escape the Citadel.


	21. Natanus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara and Avitus Rix find the remains of the Turian Ark; Ark Natanus.

_“Ryder. Thanks for calling me on such short notice.”_

“Anytime Avitus.” Sara nodded to his holo, having called him from the meeting room when asked via email. “What’s the emergency?”

_“I’ve got these… numbers—coordinates— flashing in my head. I think it’s an SoS, maybe from the Ark’s SAM node. From Macen.”_

“It could easily be coming from your SAM implant.”

_“He’s sending me his location, I know it.”_

Sara shrugged, “We did find some evidence that Natanus might be intact.”

_“What evidence?”_ Avitus asked, rather shocked at the news. It was the most emotion she'd ever heard from him.

“We found stasis pods jettisoned from the Ark. No survivors, but logs indicate that it happened long after Natanus hit the Scourge. That means the Ark must still be floating around out there somewhere.”

_“Someone must be flying the damn thing.”_

Sara shook her head, “‘Flying’ is a strong word, Avitus.” She said, “We must remember, cryo pods were ejected from the Ark. Not a fantastic sign.”

_“There must be an explanation.”_

“And we’ll find it. Give me those coordinates and I’ll meet you there.”

_“Done.”_ Avitus nodded, _“We’ll find answers.”_

-

“Look at these readings.” Kallo gasped in awe, “This system is… it’s beautiful.”

“I’ll say. That’s a stellar nursery. Stars are born out here.”

It turned out that the coordinates led them to the Remav system. A large asteroid belt encircled much of the system, with mining ventures led by Outlaws all over the field. But they were right; it was beautiful. One of the most beautiful things Sara had seen since coming to Heleus.

“That must have been the Turian golden world.” Suvi sighed, “Looks like the Scourge destroyed it completely.”

“How sad.” Sara shook her head, “I wonder if there was once life there…”

“Approaching the nav point.” Kallo told her, “It’s in the middle of the asteroid belt.”

“Take us in. Carefully.”

She heard Scott coming in behind her, peering out the window over her shoulder. They got closer until finally, they could see it. Ark Natanus.

“Oh my god…”

“The Ark’s seen better days.” Scott muttered sadly, “Survivors?”

“I’m picking up at least a couple thousand life signs. They’re still in stasis.”

“That’s good at least.” Sara nodded, “Anything else? Any Kett on board?”

“None.” Suvi reported, “Looks like Scourge damage, not Kett damage.”

**“Incoming call.”**

Sara could hear Avitus over her Tool, _“Pathfinder, looks like we’ve come to the right place. I’m headed aboard, I’ll send you my location.”_

“Alright Avitus.”

“Want me to go with you?” Scott asked. Sara thought on that for a moment; she thought of what would be best for Avitus, convinced of a relationship between him and Macen that went far beyond friends. If they found anything it would be best if she was the only one there to witness it, for Avitus’ sake. The Ark wasn’t looking good at all.

“No.” Sara told him, “I’ll go by myself. This ship is barely holding together, best to disturb it as little as possible.”

Kallo flew the ship to Avitus’ nav point and Sara disembarked alone, meeting him in a corridor just outside of a cryo bay very close to Natanus’ Bridge. Avitus was fidgeting as she approached, obviously worried but trying his best to hide it. 

“Limited power, life support’s busted. Surprised there’s any gravity at all.”

It was obvious to her that he was trying to remain professional if only to hide the nervousness. “I’m so sorry Avitus. This can’t be easy.”

“I’m not really a feelings type of guy Pathfinder.”

“Even so…”

“Please, lets just find Macen.” He took a breath, “H-047c was supposed to be the Turian homeworld here in Heleus. Whoever was piloting the Ark wanted to get here, no matter the cost.”

“Including ejecting stasis pods.” Sara sighed with a nod, “It’s not really a home if there’s no one left to live there, but after seeing what became of Habitat 7… I can understand.”

“Speculating wont get us anywhere. Lets find out exactly what happened.”

They moved slowly through Natanus, careful of debris and faulty doors. Power lines hung everywhere and sparked dangerously, other doors led to nothing but space. It was like a warzone, completely torn up. Sara was shocked anyone had survived on board.

“We’re lucky this much of Natanus survived. It’ll take the entirety of the Militia and volunteers just to evacuate the remaining stasis pods.”

Sara briefly read working terminals as they passed by them. Many logs that SAM could recover were from Macen, Avitus and the ships captain Dea Praeton. Macen seemed, through the writing, exactly as her father had described; upbeat and kind, positive and hopeful. Everything a Pathfinder should be.

“Pathfinder, I have recovered an audio log from a nearby terminal. It is damaged, but I am able to recover a portion of it.”

“Play it.” Avitus told him, again trying to hide his nervousness.

It was a female Turian speaking, _“This is captain Praeton, something’s tearing Natanus apart— half the cryo chamber is gone. Trying to get everyone awake to the escape pods. Spirits, there’s no time… Find Macen!”_

“Maybe… she found him? Made it to the escape pods?” Sara hummed.

“Macen wouldn’t leave the Ark without me. Natanus didn’t get here on its own, we need to know what happened next.”

“We’ll know for certain if we can find the Ark’s SAM node.”

“It’s this way, come on.”

Sara decided to hold off her questions for the time being; this cant have been easy for him. Instead she and SAM opened the next door, and found themselves faced with more audio logs.

_“SA… SAM… How are we doing?”_

“Macen… That’s Macen!” Avitus gasped.

_“SAM… how far to Avi’s pod?”_

**_“300 Meters.”_ **

_“Heh. An easy stroll then.”_ They heard a loud crash, _“Damn it. Maybe not so easy.”_

“Where’s the rest of it?” Avitus asked, actually sounding like he was going to panic.

**“That is all I could recover.”**

“Damn it!”

Sara sighed, “Avitus, you need to calm down. We’re going to find Macen.”

“I know, I know, I just…” Avitus shook his head, “He’s more than a Pathfinder to me.”

“We’ll find him.” Sara repeated with a nod, “Which way to SAM node?”

“This way.”

Avitus led her down another corridor. Natanus was very similar to Hyperion’s construction, and Sara could tell they’d reached SAM node’s doors. 

Natanus’ SAM was blinking in and out, obviously damaged. Avitus ran in, “SAM! Where’s the Pathfinder? Where’s Macen?”

**“Avi. Avi. A-A-Avi-i-i. Commence. Stars.”**

“‘Avi’… isn’t that was Macen called you?”

“He’s the only one who calls me that.”

Sara’s SAM spoke up, **“My counterpart is suffering severe trauma, but if I partition the damage it may be able to speak with us.”**

“Do it.” Sara nodded, “Just be careful. We’re not losing this SAM because we rushed for answers.”

Sara could feel a slight pain emanating from her implant, but she wasn’t concerned with it; all that mattered was talking to this SAM node.

**“A-Avitus Rix.”** The node spoke, **“Welcome home.”**

“SAM. Macen sent coordinates to this location. I need to find him.”

**“You are mistaken. I sent the coordinates.”**

“You…” Sara sighed, “I see.”

**“The Pathfinder ordered me to help Avitus find a home for the Turians. I located our destination, H-047c, then sought out Avitus.”**

“Why would Macen do that? I don’t…”

**“Macen was injured during our collision with the energy cloud. He believed it would be his last request.”**

“This thing’s still busted.” Avitus growled, “It doesn’t know what its talking about.”

“Listen to its words, Avitus. He _believed_ it would be, not that it _was_.” Sara turned her attention back to SAM, “Where’s the Pathfinder now?”

**“Unknown.”** SAM told them, **“But I believe Macen could possibly be alive. After releasing your stasis pod, Macen fell unconscious. He was recovered by Captain Dea Praeton and taken with a small group to the escape pods. I lost connection with him sometime during his unconsciousness; I am unsure if he is still alive, but I do have the location their escape pod was jettisoned from and their trajectory. It could be used to calculate their destination.”**

“Easy enough. That’s one of my fields of study.” Sara nodded, “I’ll have Tann send a shuttle to pick up SAM node. Avitus I will personally work through these calculations and find their destination.”

“Thank you Pathfinder. I…” Avitus sighed heavily, like the weight of the world was on his shoulders.

“You cared about him.” Sara mentioned quietly, as softly as she could, “You loved him. And it’s obvious that he loves you.”

“I… yes.” He nodded, “Heleus was… supposed to be our retirement plan, one day.”

“I’ll do everything I can to find him.” Sara pat his shoulder, “But right now you need to help them get this SAM back to the Nexus. The Turians will need someone to lead them until we find out what happened to Macen. That’s your job now.”

“What?” Avitus went rigid at the suggestion, “Me? But— I’m no leader. That’s Macen’s job. I can’t do what he can.”

“If you couldn’t, Macen wouldn’t have made you his second.” Sara told him, “He would want you to continue on and help the thousands of Turians who are going to feel lost and afraid. Believe me, they are going to need you to guide them. I’ve watched you lead settlers to safety, protect your people, we found this Ark. You’ve been playing the part of Pathfinder all along, just without the title. Your people still need you.”

“But… what if I fail? The title belongs to Macen. What if…”

“That’s what I said when I was given this role.” She smiled, trying to be as reassuring as possible, “The only way you can truly fail is if you walk away from this. The Turians need you; Macen would be proud of everything you’ve done so far. Continue it-- for his sake.”

“… You’re right. Damn it, you’re right.” He nodded, “I’ll… escort the shuttle back to Nexus and start coordinating stasis pod recovery. You’ll find Macen?”

“I will do everything I can. I promise.”

-

Sara returned to the Tempest completely drained; she’d gotten the information out of Natanus’ SAM, and her own SAM was beginning preliminary calculations. Natanus couldn’t be moved, but Sara hoped they would be there in time to save the majority of the remaining Turians on board.

As she removed the last pieces of her armor and stole Scott’s hoodie once more, Suvi walked up to her. “Pathfinder?”

“What’s up Suvi?” Sara asked, smiling for her despite her exhaustion.

“Kallo’s not acting right. I’ve never heard him so short of his temper before.” Sara’s brows furrowed; that didn’t sound like Kallo at all. “I know you just got back but can you talk to him, see what’s wrong? He’s so tight-lipped about himself I’m not making any headway.”

“Yeah.” Sara nodded, “I’ll go see what’s going on.”

Sara climbed the ladder and made her way to the Bridge. Kallo was the only one up there, and she immediately noticed the tension in his shoulders, his hands balled into fists, his voice tight.

“Gil? O’Connell and Sorenna spent months getting our systems coordinated. You can’t just strip and redesign those connections on the fly!” Silence. “Gil? I know you can hear me.”

_“The whole ship can hear you. I’m just not listening.”_

Kallo actually growled a little as Gil cut the coms, pushing his head into his hands. Sara sighed and stepped forward.

“You’re fighting again?” She asked him. Kallo didn’t even look at her.

“I’m thinking the same, believe me.” He was actually curt with her, a tone she’d never heard before, at least not directed at her. She knew he didn’t mean it, of course he didn’t, but that frustration had no other outlet. He was quite obviously at the end of his rope.

Sara sighed again, “Alright.” She moved forward and grabbed his wrist tightly, pulling Kallo up and out of his chair without any hesitation. Kallo actually squeaked in surprise, a sound that would have made her giggle had she not been so tired.

“Whoa whoa whoa, wait! Sara?!” Sara pulled him after her, out of the Bridge and down the ladder, going into her room and shutting the door behind her. He stared at her in confusion and impatience, “What in the world was that for? I’ve got a thousand things to do!”

“Nope.” Sara leaned into the frame at the door, blocking his exit. “You are not leaving this room until you deal with this frustration of yours. Come on, lets hear it.”

“Sara--”

“ _No._ ” She told him, giving him the slightest glare, “I am not letting you carry this frustration and anger. We have a lot of dangerous work to do and I’m not allowing our one and only pilot to distract himself when he could be dealing with this. I know you, so out with it. What’s got you so worked up?”

Kallo groaned and began to pace around the room. He didn’t talk at first, just paced, and Sara let him take his time to work through the words. “I didn’t want to involve you in this.” He muttered, scrubbing his face.

“I’m the Pathfinder. It’s my job to get involved, and that includes dealing with the spats that are bound to happen on a ship as small as the Tempest. Part of the job.”

“Hmm.” He grumbled, “I just— Gil is such a cloaca!” He started, never stopping his pacing. “He likes redesigning things, but the ship was built this way for a reason. He has no respect for the work we’ve done here. He strips and redesigns out in space thinking he’s improving our systems, but I’ve been finding power imbalances and slight drive core faults. I have no doubt that he’s trained but we’re working with equipment here that few people actually trained with, highly specialized equipment, some of which we made from scratch! And his redesigns are not only extremely dangerous, it’s erasing all of the dangerous work we did back home! All those days and hours and overtime late nights. They deserve better than that. The Tempest is unique, and its _our ship_.” He sighed, “Not Gil’s.”

As he finished his rant Kallo collapsed into the couch. Sara followed him, taking the seat beside him. She saw him look to the framed picture she had nearby of them with the Sur’Kesh crew, all smiling with a completed Tempest in the background. Then he leaned his head into his hands, closing his eyes tightly. “I still see every moment of our work on Sur’Kesh.” He said, “All of it. I see you doing your calculations, Teon getting us the parts we needed, O’Connell and Sorenna slaving over the navigational systems, Lucille in her construction mech… And he has no respect for that hard work. The years of work just being erased like that… I know he means well but I can’t stand for it. At the very least, not while we’re out in the middle of space.”

Sara touched his shoulder lightly in her effort to comfort him, “Want me to talk to Gil?”

“What?” Kallo looked to her, his eyes slightly calmer than they had been. “No. No, you have enough to worry about. We’ve been arguing sure but we’ve also been talking. I hope he gets the message before he does something stupid but…” He sighed, “I don’t know.”

Sara rubbed her hand up and down his back, and she felt his tensions begin to ease. He was quiet for awhile, just breathing, calming down now that he’d said the words. Then she saw him glance out the window where Ark Natanus was still visible.

“You’re still worried about Paarchero too.” She nodded, knowing the look. “You know you can come to me about these things right? Or Lexi, if you really don’t want me to know.”

Kallo sighed slowly, heavily, letting his tensions melt away. “Yeah… I know.” He shook his head, “It seems like you’re the only one doing anything to find the Arks. I know how busy you are but you’re still trying. Paarchero, Leusinia… what if they’re just as bad off as the Natanus right now? What if…”

“There’s no proof of that Kal.” She told him with as much confidence as she could muster, “One way or another, we’re going to find the other Arks. Just like we found Natanus. Don’t get yourself stuck in the what ifs, focus on the here and now. I’m not stopping until we find Paarchero and Leusinia, I promise you.”

He looked to her for confidence and comfort, and he seemed to find it in her eyes and her touch. He smiled a little bit, concerned but also more hopeful than he had been before. “How do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Sound so confident. Every second of the day, whenever you talk to… anyone. Even though you don’t know, you’re still confident.”

She smiled, “I have Scott and my father. I have this crew and the Tempest. I have what’s left of the Initiative. And I have you. It’s for the same reason you’re always so optimistic; the alternatives aren’t worth the time. We make the most of this, right?”

“Hmm. My own words.” He chuckled a little, nodding his head slowly, “You’re right.”

Sara was glad the tension had eased, but she could tell he needed a break; some time out of the Tempest, away from the what ifs. She smiled wide for him, “Why don’t you join me next time we’re on the Nexus? We’ll waste some time together, just the two of us. No working, no hassles, no arguments, just us. Take a little bit of time to ourselves and relax a little bit.”

Kallo blinked and looked at her with a spark of amusement in his eyes, “Really? Just us huh? No one else?”

“Yeah! Just like we did on Sur’Kesh. I’ll turn off my Tool and everything. It’ll be just us.”

Kallo smiled, “I don’t know. I seem to remember someone stealing all of my tea herbs in that time.”

“I didn’t take all of it!” She acted offended, “Just some of it!”

He rolled his eyes, “Oh alright, I _guess_ you’re not so bad to spend time with.” Sara gasped and swatted at his arm, only prompting him to laugh outright.

“Six hundred years and you’re still an ass.”

“Takes one to know one.”

“Uh-huh.” Kallo laughed again, and she couldn’t help but find it infectious. “Alright, you’re free to go smartass. We’ve got a Pathfinder to find.”

“Macen Barro?”

“The very same. Looks like he may have been taken off the Ark. I’ll give you some coordinates once SAM and I finish these calculations.”

Sara stood up to get back to work, but Kallo quickly sprung up behind her and pulled her into a hug before she could leave. It was quite fast, but she still hugged him back with a smile; it was good for both of them.

“Thanks Sara. Especially for ignoring my tough guy act.”

Sara giggled, “Anytime.” She pat his chest lightly and gave him her biggest smile, “Go ahead and get back to your ‘thousand things to do’,” She said as she left, “I’ll let you know once SAM and I finish these up.”

But despite her words, Sara made a beeline for the center of the ship, where Suvi was reviewing some of the samples they’d gathered from Eos and Voeld. Sara pulled her aside briefly to ask, “Ah.” Suvi nodded, “They’re still fighting. I see.”

“How long has this been going on?” Sara asked her, hoping for a more complete picture of the scenario. “I don’t think confronting Gil about this will help either of them.”

“No.” Suvi agreed, “Gil… likes to do things his own way. Often without consultation. He means well but he doesn’t think it through.”

“Okay… thanks Suvi. Keep it between us?” 

“Of course.” She nodded.

“Think you can help me with these calculations?”

“Absolutely.” Suvi’s smile returned and the two began reconstructing Macen Barro’s path.

-

“This is where the coordinates lead?”

The Tempest was floating out in open space near Harvarl, but not nearly close enough for them to have landed on the planet. “There’s no way we screwed up those calculations.” Sara shook her head, “It’s a simple conversion, I’ve done a thousand just like it.”

“Now that we’re here we can account for gravitational pull from the sun and the surrounding planets.” Suvi told her, “But this far out the pod wouldn’t have floated far.”

“I’m picking up a very slight emissions trail.” Kallo squinted at the screen, “Nothing from our Initiative ships makes a trail like this… maybe it’s an Angaran vessel?”

“The Angara on Havarl would have alerted us if they’d found the pod.”

“Oh no…” Sara’s eyes widened, “Were they discovered by Rokaar?”

A silence fell over the Bridge as they realized what that meant; the Rokaar would kill them. They needed to catch up.

“Can we follow this emissions trail?”

**“From this trail, I can calculate and follow their path.”**

“Do it. We need to find them now.”

The Tempest spun around and followed the path SAM was setting for Kallo. They had to hurry; they had to find Macen before it was too late.

After all, she’d made a promise.


	22. Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Tempest catches up with Macen Barro, forcing Sara and crew to stage a daring rescue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to let y'all know that I've updated Chapter 5 of Frontier. It has some new details toward the end and it's slightly longer. Nothing huge but if you want to go back and see the changes, they're there. =)

It took days. 

The trail was leading them all over the cluster with no signs of slowing down. This ship had gone places, that much was certain, but it never landed on planets; it was an odd pattern to be sure, but Sara refused to speculate.

She spoke with Avitus every day. She assured him over and over again that they were still on Macen’s trail. Sure she left out the part about Rokaar, Avitus didn’t need the extra worry, but she made sure he knew they were not far from Macen. Avitus in turn kept her updated on progress with Natanus; they had already begun pulling stasis pods from the broken Ark, with full militia support the transition was fast and effective. He hadn’t expected the outpouring of hope and confidence and positivity from his fellow Turians, but it seemed to Sara that he was handling it all very well.

What Sara was concerned about, aside from Macen, was much closer to home. When she did manage to fall into nightmare-riddled sleep, each day she was waking up with increasingly bad shaking in her hands, much worse than she’d ever experienced before. Sara had been to enough doctors to know what this meant.

She did wait a few days to see if it was a one off issue, but on the third day her usual medications barely stopped the shaking, and on the fourth day she was shaking so badly she couldn’t open the bottle of pills; she went to Lexi immediately, still shaking. Lexi took a blood sample and gave her a thorough checkup— not something she was at all adverse to. In the rush to find Macen she couldn’t afford to overlook anything about her own health.

Lexi sat down across from Sara when she was done and wrote down a final note on her datapad. “So?”

Lexi nodded once, “I agree with your conclusions.” She said, “Your symptoms do appear to be increasing. That said, I don’t think we have huge cause for concern. I’m going to send this blood sample back to the Nexus for analysis just in case, but we can control the shaking with the medications.”

“You don’t think this is Stage Four?”

“No, not at all.” Lexi gave her a reassuring smile, “I would expect to see the beginning signs of memory lapses and a much larger increase in medication requirements for Stage Four, and even then those symptoms are controllable until you reach Stage Five. I’ll talk with Harry and I’ll let you know as soon as the blood results come back. For now I’m increasing your medication dosage by one; if the shaking continues let me know.”

Sara let out a slow breath; news like this wasn’t at all shocking, but she could never help the dreadful feeling that accompanied it. “What’s causing it? I’ve never had shaking this bad before.”

“At a guess?” Lexi shrugged, “Seems stress-induced. The role of Pathfinder is extremely taxing on your body and mind. You did say you expected the stress levels but the fact remains, it puts a lot of strain on you. I think you need to take more time for yoga, and to spend a little more time between missions to relax. Get some real sleep in, pursue a hobby, do your workouts.”

Sara nodded, staring down at her still shaking hands, “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. I knew the added stresses on the Engineering front would accelerate my illness but this is a whole different ballpark.”

“Sara.” Lexi forced her to look at her, handing her the day’s dosage of medication, “You’re alright. This shaking is an indicator of symptoms increase but we have no proof that your life has been shortened in any significant way. Just do your best to control your stress levels. The medications will stop the shaking and the pain as normal.”

 _“Pathfinder,”_ Suvi’s voice cut in over coms, _“it looks like we’ve found a solid destination for that ship. Come to the Bridge?”_

“On my way Suvi.” She responded, shutting off her Tool quickly, “Thanks Lexi.”

Sara quickly went to the galley to get some water, thankfully managing it without dropping the cup. Then she headed up to the Bridge, hoping she could hide the shaking. 

“What’s the word?” She asked, seeing that they were in Elaaden’s orbit.

“Looks like the ship has landed on Elaaden.” Kallo told her, “It’s a long ways from New Tuchanka; too far for the Nomad, we’ll have to fly you straight there, but preliminary scans indicate a multitude of tunnels under the surface.”

“Sounds like a hideout to me.” Sara nodded, “SAM can you pick up any heat signatures?”

**“The sand is too heated to get an accurate reading; however, I have located a tunnel entrance that appears to be vacant. You could use it to enter without detection.”**

“Perfect. Kallo we’re going to do a flyby here, it’s too dangerous to land with the Rokaar monitoring but we will need you to land right at the entrance once we clear out the caves, it’s too likely the Turians will have injuries.” Sara entered the coordinates into navigation, her hands still shaking. She noticed Kallo’s reflection glancing to her; if he noticed the shaking, he didn’t comment on it.

“Stay close by, on it.”

Sara called for Vetra, Scott and Cora to get suited up for the mission. She knew she needed Vetra there, hoping it would calm any living Turian prisoners. Before she reached the bay she saw Scott making his way to suit up and quickly pulled him aside to a quiet corner of the Tempest. No one even spared them a glance.

“What’s wrong?” He asked. Sara glanced around to make sure no one was watching, then pulled her hands from her pockets; the medications were beginning to kick in and the shaking was subsiding, but it was still very obvious to him what the issue was. With a patient breath he encased both her hands with his, his hands lighting up with his biotics hoping it would help calm the shaking. “How long?”

“Four days.”

“Did you go see Lexi?”

“Yes. She upped my dosage and took a blood sample. She said it’s probably not Four.”

“That’s good.” Scott smiled reassuringly.

“It was so bad I couldn’t open the bottle this morning.” The warmth from his biotics was beginning to help her feel a little better, the shaking was going away.

“Just call me next time you can’t, okay? Or take them out the night before.”

“Yeah… good idea. Thanks Scotty.” Sara pulled her hands back and stuffed them into the hoddie’s pockets; Scott snorted in amusement. 

“I’m never getting that back, am I?”

“Nope.” Sara grinned, “It’s big and warm and mine was wrecked in transit.”

Scott rolled his eyes and pulled her after him, “Come on Skater, Macen’s waiting.”

-

Landing on Elaaden was an _experience_.

And landing, in Sara’s mind, was far too strong a word. It was more the fact of Kallo flying low over the sands while Sara, Cora, Scott and Vetra all jumped out of the Tempest while it was still moving, resulting in a very fast freefall and thanking their lucky stars that they had jump-jets. The sun was blisteringly hot and the sand was like stepping into a fire, but still they made their landing without injury and ran for the vacant cave entrance. The shade was very welcomed, but Sara knew they had been quite obvious in their arrival.

The entrance was indeed vacant, but fortified; Sara and SAM worked together to quickly crack the encryptions and disable the silent alarm within them. Then they moved inside as quietly as possible, keeping to the walls and shadows.

“SAM, anything?” Sara whispered.

**“I detect Turian and Angaran life signs deeper in the tunnels.”**

“Are the Turians alive?”

**“Yes. They’re being held towards the back of a large cavern. I see no tunnels letting out near them.”**

“How do you want to go about this?” Cora asked. Sara hummed and thought on that for a moment; sneaking by wouldn’t be a viable option, there were too many Rokaar between them and the prisoners. Unless…

“SAM, can you scan the fortifications?”

**“Yes.”**

“How are they holding the Turians?”

**“It appears to be a cage with fingerprint coded locks. There are additional guns permanently targeting the Turians.”**

“So if we try a frontal assault they’ll shoot them dead.”

“There’s no way they didn’t see us dropping from the sky.” Vetra shook her head, “It’s gotta be a trap.”

“I know it’s a trap.” Sara sighed, “but it’s a trap we have to spring. SAM, infiltrator profile.” As SAM switched her profiles Sara turned to the group, “Alright here’s the plan. You three are going to go down this tunnel and make some noise, give as big of a distraction as possible and draw them off. I’ll cloak in from behind and make it to the guns so SAM can disable them. Just stick to cover, I don’t need to lose half my crew to these idiots.”

“Don’t worry about us.” Scott nodded, “We’ll charge in once you disable those guns and finish the job. You’ll have all the time you need.”

With their plan in place, they set it into motion. The three went off down the tunnel to set up while Sara moved towards the cavern’s entrance. There were two Rokaar guards there but the gate was open. Still, completely and obviously, a trap. 

When her crew started making noise and picking off patrolling Rokaar, many began running out of the cavern to assist. Sara took the opportunity to cloak herself and move through the gate unseen. Sara was glad to put her rock climbing skills to use; her time training in parkour and freerunning helped her immeasurably as she climbed up to the first gun to begin disabling it. SAM was faster and quieter at the task, so he hacked in while Sara observed their surroundings.

The cavern was huge, well lit with a lot of supplies and weapons. There was a large Angara towards the back that appeared to be their leader; it wasn’t Aksuul. Towards the back she saw the cage as well, it appeared to be large enough to hold a Fiend but instead, she saw the captive Turians. They appeared to be alive too, and curiously looking around trying to figure out what all the noise was.

SAM determined they had to disable each of the five guns manually, one at a time. But it seemed she had time as more Rokaar were racing out of the cavern to take down the intruders. She could hear the gunfire and yelling and determined they were really giving the Rokaar a run for their money. 

The Rokaar didn’t appear to notice her as the cavern had really cleared out. The remaining were too focused on the gate to notice her running around behind them, cloaked as often as possible. Sara moved to the next gun and checked over the Turians now that she was closer. One of them was laying on their back but otherwise they seemed mostly unharmed. Weak, but alive. This time they noticed her. None of the Turians made a sound, but she saw hope in their eyes as they sat a little straighter. She pressed her finger to her lips to ensure they remained silent, giving them an encouraging smile before continuing on to the next gun.

Soon SAM had disabled all five guns, and Sara moved quietly to the cage. One of the Turians moved forward when she beckoned them to. “Who are all of you?” She whispered.

The female Turian responded, “Captain Praeton, Ark Natanus. This is my main crew and our Pathfinder, Macen Barro.”

“I’m Pathfinder Sara Ryder, Ark Hyperion. Is Macen alive? Do you have any injured?”

“Yes ma’am, a few of my crew are injured but Macen’s the only one in critical condition, he’s not doing well. He needs medical attention very soon if he’s going to make it. We can’t run, if that’s what your asking.”

“Alright.” Sara passed her pistol through the bars, “Give this to whoevers the best shot and hide it. You’ll know when to use it.”

Sara went over to the nearby console, “SAM, begin breaking the lock’s encryptions. I’ll work on disabling remaining security and coms channels.”

_**“Yes Pathfinder.”** _

As Sara worked she quickly alerted them through her Tool, and she could hear her crew begin making their way towards the cavern. It was a simple matter to disable the security, but SAM was having trouble with the locks.As he was trying she could hear noise behind her; she was no longer hidden.

“Pathfinder!”

“Intruders!”

Sara spun around just as one of the Rokaar was about to shoot her, quickly kicking him away. As it so happened it was their leader who had come after her; she charged at him before he could straighten himself out, thankful for her boxing experience and knowledge of hand-to-hand combat.

One of the Turians began shooting through the gate, taking out Rokaar who tried to assist their boss. For being their leader he didn’t seem at all adept; Sara managed to whip out the shotgun Drack always wanted her to have on her, and with one shot he was dead.

The space was no good for her sniper rifle, so she grabbed her assault rifle and put herself between the Turians and the Rokaar. Across the cavern her crew burst in guns blazing, Cora and Scott especially throwing their biotics around in an effort to get to the cage.

“Pathfinder.” A male Turian groaned in pain as he crouched in the cage near her, firing the pistol. “Macen Barro.”

“Pathfinder.” Sara greeted equally, impressed at his fortitude.

“Did you find Avitus? Natanus?”

“We did.” She told him, continuing to fire. “I’ll explain everything once this is over.” She booted up her Tool as her crew was getting closer, “Kallo, we’re going to need an extraction here. Can you land?”

 _“Negative Pathfinder!”_ Kallo came back, _“There’s Rokaar reinforcements incoming, but they seem to think you’ve already gotten away. They’re on us right now, I’ll try to draw them off.”_

“Be careful. We’ll find another way out.” She told him, returning to her shots. Scott was the first to reach her just as SAM cracked through the lock’s encryptions. The Turians without injury moved out of the cage and grabbed weapons off of the fallen Rokaar nearby. The injured remained in the back, including Macen, who gave his gun to one of his crew. 

Sara figured there was only one way they were getting out of here, “Captain!” Preaton moved forward, shooting a shotgun she’d gotten hold of. “Can you fly one of the Rokaar’s ships?”

“I can fly anything! The Rokaar have ships nearby, through the gate and to the right.”

“Alright, change of plans guys! We’re punching a hole back through the tunnels.”

Cora and Scott took that order quite literally, charging their way through the remaining Rokaar. It was almost like they were in competition of who could do the most damage with a biotic charge. The rest had to walk, with much of the Turian crew assisting their injured in walking. It was slow but steady progress while Kallo kept the remaining Rokaar busy outside.

Eventually they came to an opening in the tunnel systems, letting out into the side of a long-since hardened sinkhole. There was a ship out there and it was easy to deal with the guards.

“Everyone in, lets go! Watch your left Scott!”

Captain Praeton went to the controls and began figuring out how to power it up. The remaining Turians got on board while Sara, Scott, Cora and Vetra shot the remaining Rokaar who were trying to get through. “I think I got it!” Praeton called to them, so they stepped on board with the door still open. They shot guns with one hand and hung on with the other as Praeton lifted off the platform, a little shaky but relatively stable. “Here we go, hang on!” 

They shut the doors as Praeton shot out of the sinkhole, up and out into open air. “By the Spirits, this thing’s fast!” She yelled from the front but seemed to regain full control. Soon they were out and away without any ships following them.

“Can we disable its tracker?” Sara asked.

“Already done Pathfinder.”

Sara nodded and moved to the back, where the injured were either sitting or layed out on the floor being taken care of by the rest. “This is everyone?”

“Yes. Not a moment too soon, Pathfinder.” Macen sat up from where they were trying to keep him down; it was obvious he was antsy, but he had this bright look about him that seemed very pleasant. “Sara and Scott, huh? Don’t tell me you're Alec’s kids.”

“You’re spot on.” Scott laughed from where he leaned rather heavily into the wall; he was exhausted from using his biotics, she could tell. “That was one hell of an escape.”

“From Macen’s example, all Pathfinders are risk takers!” One of the Turians laughed.

Sara called the Tempest through her Tool, “Kallo? We got out on a Rokaar ship. Can you get away?”

_“It’ll only take a moment, they can’t detect us through our stealth drives.”_

“Good job. Give us a safe nav point on the dark side of the planet, we’ll switch over there without eyes. Make sure Lexi preps med bay.”

They landed in some flatlands on the dark side of the planet and made the switch to the Tempest. Sara sent the nav point of the Rokaar ship to the Resistance in case they wanted to pick it up for use, then they headed out on the Tempest, racing for the Nexus.

It was a thankfully shorter trip without in between stops. Sara took some time with the Turians to explain the Angara situation to them, the peaceful contact, and assured them that the Rokaar were extremists. She didn’t want a diplomatic incident on the Nexus, particularly with jumpy Turians. There wasn’t much more time to talk beyond that, but Captain Praeton did briefly pull her aside to ask about the Ark.

When they reached the Nexus, Kallo was directed to land briefly in a different docking bay; it wasn’t fully put together yet, poorly lit with no one around, but it was closest to the hospital. A medical team met them there, and they took Macen away on a stretcher. Sara followed beside them all the way to the hospital, where she was told to wait as they gave him a full examination. Sara was rather thankful for the quiet docking bay, it would help prevent wild rumors.

With the rush over, Sara booted up her Tool and contacted Avitus. He was at the hospital within minutes, panting from his run there, looking both excited and nervous all at once.

“Pathfinder? How’s Macen?” He asked her a little frantically, “Is he alive?”

“Calm down Avitus.” She smiled warmly, placing her hand on his arm, trying to get him to calm. “Breathe. Macen’s going to be fine.” Avitus sucked in a deep breath upon hearing the words, eying the doors, “They’re treating his wounds now, they’ll come out here to get you once Macen’s in stable condition. Alright?”

“Yes…” He breathed, “Yes, I understand.” Avitus took her hand with both of his, “Thank you so much Pathfinder. Really, I… I can’t express how much this means to me. How much he means.”

“I’ve got people I care about too Avitus, more than life itself. I’m happy I could help.” Sara grinned, “I’m going to talk to Tann, explain the situation and get everything sorted out. Don’t you or Macen worry about a thing.” 

“Pathfinder?” Avitus stopped her before she could leave, “I’ll repay you for this somehow. If you need anything, anything at all, you have my support.” 

Sara smiled, “Thanks Avitus. I’m glad to help through all this insanity. That’s how you know it’ll get better.”

-

_“How’s Macen?”_

“Looks like he’ll pull through.”

Kallo breathed out a sigh over the com, _“That’s good to hear. We moved the Tempest back to our regular docking bay. Are you… coming back?”_

Sara laughed, “Yes Kal, we’re going to spend a little time on the Nexus anyway, until Macen gets settled in and updated. We’ll spend some time together once I get the Natanus business sorted out, okay?”

 _“Deal.”_ She could practically hear his smile, _“What can we do in the meantime?”_ Sara walked through the door to Pathfinder HQ and immediately heard Tann’s raised voice. _“Ooooh. The people in stasis can hear that.”_

Sara laughed again, “Just keep an eye on incoming reports, would ya? Let me know if something urgent comes through. I’ve got some shit to deal with here.”

_“Sure thing. Good luck in there.”_

Sara shut down her Tool as she walked up the ramp into HQ, first seeing Tann who looked rather rigid.

“Tann, yelling about it is not going to help the situation.”

Sara recognized that voice. “Dad?”

Tann and Alec both turned to Sara’s voice. Alec gave her a bright smile, “Hey there Sara.”

“Pathfinder.” Tann greeted, “We need to discuss your handling of Ark Natanus.”

“Really now?” Sara leaned into the railing, “And what did I do wrong this time?”

“We don’t have any room for all these colonists.” Tann sighed, “Where do you plan on putting them with only one outpost? We need more.”

“I recognize that we’re low on space.” Sara told him, “But this process takes time. I’m working steadily on other Outpost options. Everyone is just going to have to be patient while we work this out. Most of the Turians will remain in their stasis pods anyway, just put them wherever you can. We’re not turning away our own people.”

“What about Aya? With our alliance surely—”

“No.” Alec interrupted him, “Aya is a sovereign state of the Angara. Just because we have their allegiance doesn’t mean we have their loyalty or trust. I’m still trying to help them smooth things over. For now the pods will just have to remain here. You’re the Director Tann; start acting like it and make the hard decisions once in a while. The Nexus will get cramped for a while, that’s okay.”

“Not to mention that colonists seeing you upset at the fact that we found an Ark? Not very good for moral. Think about that.”

Tann was irritated but had no real argument. He stomped off to his desk in a rather unimpressive fashion, leaving Alec to pull Sara to the opposite window where they could talk in peace.

“Good work with Natanus.” He said, smiling for her. “You found Macen? He’s alive?”

“Alive and in one piece.” She nodded, “He’s down in the hospital if you want to go visit him sometime.”

“I’ll have to do that.” Alec hummed, “In times like these it would do me good to catch up with an old friend.” He pat her shoulder, “I’m going to go see Scott on the Hyperion now. Want to come?”

“Thanks, but I think I need a breather.” She said, “I’ll catch you two next time though.” Alec looked like he wanted to say more, looked like he wanted something, but instead he just smiled and nodded. He walked off, leaving Sara in the relatively empty Pathfinder HQ.

She didn’t know whether things were really turning around or not. She could only hope it was.


	23. Interested

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara and Kallo finally have the chance to spend the day together.

Kallo was waiting for her at the docking bay, in no rush to be anywhere or do anything. She’d been held up in Operations but had promised she’d be there soon; he had no reason to rush her, instead enjoying the energy around the bay.

Vetra had been in and out of the docking bay many times, working with contacts and searching for items. Every time she came by she asked if Sara was still on her way, and each time she left with a notable glint in her eyes; how she knew the two planned to spend the day together was beyond him, but he decided to simply amuse her instead of question her. It was, after all, a day to relax.

_“Passion runs in the family huh?”_

_“Dear god, don’t let my legacy be ‘Passionate like her father was’.”_

_“Alright then, how about ‘Passionate like her mother was’?”_

_“Oh that’s much better, thank you.”_

“Hey Kal.” Sara pat his shoulder lightly once she’d reached him. He hadn’t heard her approaching him, but he smiled all the same, shaking out of memory. She noticed immediately that he’d spaced out. “What were you remembering?” She asked him.

“Oh, nothing much.” He realized quite suddenly that perhaps it wasn’t his greatest plan to tell her he’d been thinking specifically about her, “Just… Sur’Kesh.”

“I see.” She nodded, and he hoped she’d bought it.

“So,” He smiled, eager to change the subject “what did you have in mind?”

“You know, I thought about that for awhile.” Sara laughed, “Then I realized that I actually haven’t been here much. I know Vortex is a thing but I don’t think either of us are interesting in drinking.”

“Yeah, not really.” He grinned, “Come on then.”

The two did, briefly, take a look inside Vortex; they left quickly upon realizing that it was poetry night, neither were interested in drinking and bad rhyming. So they spent some time in the clean air of Hydroponics, and whenever they moved to a new location they walked slowly.

Kallo figured he’d show Sara places he’d found in the Nexus in the fourteen months before Hyperion’s arrival. It wasn’t much, but it wasn’t really about the locations. It was about them, spending the time to relax and forget that there was an entire Cluster of shit out there. Here, on the Nexus, they were safe.

It was nice to just… talk. Something they had both sorely missed. Time where they didn’t need to worry about someone interrupting them, when it was just them. When for a brief moment nothing else seemed to matter. 

“So finally, I stepped in and said ‘tell me the first twenty numbers of Pi.”

“No!” Sara gasped.

“I did! And he didn’t know!”

“You’re kidding me.”

“I kid you not.” Kallo laughed, “Here he is, trying to pass for a Mathematician and he didn’t know the answer. Turns out he’d faked his profession and his age to get into the Initiative and somehow passed the screening. They put the kid back in stasis until things calm down, probably for the best.”

Sara giggled, “Look at you being productive while I was gone.” The tram stopped, and they walked out into Operations. “You guys didn’t need me after all, shall I go back into stasis?”

“Don’t you dare.” He shoved her. She laughed again and held up her hands, 

“Fine fine, I know when I’m beat.”

The two headed towards Kesh’s office. Despite the agreement of no work, both of them really were workaholics, and there was no way Sara wasn’t going to drop off her reports while she was there. As they neared it a Salarian walked out of Kesh’s office, a Salarian both of them instantly recognized.

“Deena?!”

Deena stopped dead and looked rather shocked at seeing Sara and Kallo there, in Andromeda. A large smile came onto her face. “Hello!” She shook their hands eagerly.

“I’m so shocked you’re here Deena.” Sara said, “I had no idea you had joined the Initiative’s jump to Andromeda.”

“Please,” Deena chuckled, “It’s Del now. Del Jasin.”

“Why the name change?”

“It was my way of getting into the Initiative.” She shrugged, “I wanted to be part of it but my family, well… back home they were really pushing me to be a Dalatrass. But I’m not interested in politics, I trained as an Engineer and they were not happy about that. I signed up for the Sur’Kesh Initiative facility’s administration office to get as close to the Initiative as I could while I figured out some way to get a boarding pass behind my family’s back. Jien Garson gave me a break close to launch, so I changed my name and here I am.”

“That is not the story I was expecting.” Kallo smiled, “But it’s good to see a familiar face out here.”

“Yours as well! I was brought out of stasis toward the end of the rebellions so I was pretty out of the loop on everything that went on. I’d heard that Sara had become the Pathfinder but through all this insanity I haven’t been focused on much else beyond my work.”

“You and me both.” Sara sighed, “You’re working with Kesh now?”

“Yes, and the other Engineers. It’s nice to finally be doing what I want to be doing. Back home we females were stuck to political roles, but with the Initiative we joined as normal civilians right alongside the males, that’s unheard of in our society. It’s change but… it’s a good change.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” Kallo nodded.

Del had to get back to the Nexus Engineer’s, so they continued on to Kesh’s office. Drack was there as usual with a smirk on his face, and Kallo took the time to thank Kesh for making sure Tann didn’t scrap the Tempest before Hyperion’s arrival. That was a story he hadn’t told Sara yet; he told her everything after some pestering. 

The two made their way back to docking, deciding to visit the cultural center. For Sara it was her first time inside, and she took a brief minute to assist the curator in calibrating the Pathfinder’s VI system response. Jaal was in the cultural center too, and was studying the Turian VI when they came by. He smiled brightly at them, as he always did.

“How is your date today?” He asked them suddenly. Kallo turned a bright shade of green almost instantly.

“Is that what the crew thinks we’re doing?” Sara laughed, and Jaal seemed rather excited about it.

“Oh yes! Liam was quite adamant about it. He and Peebee have placed bets.”

“Did you?” 

“… I may have put down a small bet.” 

Sara laughed again, glancing over at Kallo; he was still blushing and refusing to look at either of them. “Do you happen to know where Liam is right now?”

“Hmm. I believe he is still aboard the Tempest.”

“Thanks Jaal.” Sara grinned and pulled Kallo along after her, out of the cultural center and back into Hydroponics.

“What are you doing?” He asked her, his blush fading and his curiosity rising. 

“What kind of Pathfinder would I be if I didn’t acknowledge the opinions of all my crew mates?” She sat down on a bench in the corner and pulled out her datapad. She pulled up her Tempest access and entered in her code, the one she and Sorenna had written to give them direct access to all of the Tempest’s internal systems. Kallo watched curiously.

“So your plan is…?”

“Well, I have to find him first.” Sara had the smuggest grin he’d ever seen on her face as she pulled up the Tempest’s security camera’s live feed. She ran through them until she found Liam in the galley. He was on board with Lexi, Cora, Vetra, Gil and Suvi. “You want my plan? Our internal circuitry and supply crates are waterproof. And I can seal off the crew quarters and med bay.”

“... Oh that’s terrible.”

“Chaos is my middle name.” She pulled up an entire control board of the Tempest’s internal sprinkler systems, alarms and other general annoyances. Sara cracked her knuckles and set to work. “Liam will appreciate our ingenuity!” Immediately, she set off the sprinklers above him. Liam shrieked as ice cold water sprayed down on him, soaking him almost immediately. He ran out into the hallway. The crew on board immediately heard his yelling.

 _“What the hell?!”_ Sara then set off sprinklers surrounding the hallway, just barely missing Vetra, who had climbed the ladder to the upper hallway. Liam bolted to the cargo bay, and Sara set off every sprinkler system after him, all throughout the cargo bay and up to the meeting room.

The rest of the crew very quickly caught on, and had made haste for the Bridge. Liam ran for it, but they shut the door right in his face. Sara burst out laughing.

 _“Aw come on guys! Let me in! It’s cold!”_ He called through the coms. On the camera they saw Gil on the floor crying with laughter. The rest were laughing at various levels, from chuckles to cackles,

_“Sorry Liam. The water would follow you!”_

Sara gasped for air, and Kallo grasped her arm. “Sara, Sara!” He pointed, “The Bridge is soundproof.”

Sara fell right back into crying bouts of laughter, handing the pad to him. He eagerly took it and set off the alarms everywhere but the Bridge. Liam sighed, accepting his defeat, making his way back to the kitchen.

Sara was nearly falling off the bench, laughing so hard she couldn’t even breathe. Kallo laughed with her as he put the alarms and sprinklers on a timer to turn themselves off after five minutes, then shut down her datapad. He shook his head and Sara covered her face, trying to stop the laughter.

“Brutal.” He told her.

“I-I kno-ow!” She managed through heaving breaths, nodding furiously. After a minute she began to calm down, wiping the tears from her eyes and taking deeper breaths. “Oh god!” She leaned back into the bench with a wide grin on her face, “What a great day.”

Kallo stared at her for a moment, thinking hard on Jaal’s words and the easy smile that graced her face. She seemed more contented and happy than he’d seen her in a long time. “Sara… what are we calling this?”

She looked at him with her usual kind smile, “Calling what?”

“This.” He motioned between them, “Our time together. Have you been considering this to be a date?”

It was Sara’s turn to blush a little bit as she tried to come up with some sort of clever answer. She really didn’t have one for him, he looked at her so sincerely that her heart actually skipped a beat; that was certainly new.

“I… don’t know what I considered this to be.” She shrugged, still blushing, her smile turning quite small and shy. He most certainly noticed that. “Cora said my… affections for you were obvious. But I didn’t think you were interested like that and I value you regardless so I… never brought it up?” She chuckled nervously, curling in on herself just slightly. “I’m not going to force anything so… I don’t know. Might just be me being stupid. We can forget I ever said anything if you’d prefer that.”

Kallo was rather shocked at her answer, staring at her silently. It was a feeling he really wasn’t used to, but had been feeling for a long time. He thought back to how often he’d thought about her in those fourteen aimless months. A pull in his gut, his heart beating just a little bit faster, the fear and loneliness whenever she wasn’t around. This, their time spent together, just the two of them, it felt so natural. More natural and comforting than anything or anyone else. She was everything and always had been, even if he didn’t have a word for it.

“And if I… _was_ interested?” She blinked a few times, running over his words in her head. He was interested? 

“Really?” He nodded, “Hmm.” She giggled a little, “I guess if there’s shared interest we’ll just have to take some time to figure out a word for this.”

He smiled for her, blushing himself. When did that happen? “Between us? I don’t mind calling it a date.” Her smile grew and her eyes had this sparkle to them that was impossible to miss. 

“Then it’s a good thing we still have time off.” She laughed, standing up and stretching a little bit, “Come on. I think we can afford to leave Liam in a soaked Tempest for awhile.” Kallo stood to follow her with a grin of his own; what a great day indeed.

-

Professor Herik, Doctor Aridana and Chief Lucan were happy to have Kallo and Sara visit them. Sara hadn’t had much time to get to know the three, but she had been scanning rocks and plants and animals for the group’s studies, and she knew them to be pleasant and trustworthy. 

“Your mapping of the Scourge has helped immeasurably.”

Kallo nodded, “I’m glad. We still have a long way to go but if you’re able to identify safer routes through, it’ll do us all some good.”

“Any progress on the algorithms?” Sara asked.

“None yet.” Aridana sighed, “I’ve been running through them on my off hours.”

“Don’t sweat it too much.” She told them, “I’m still working through them.”

“Hmm… There are some calculations we could use some help with, actually.” Aridana handed her a disk, “Some vital equations that only a mind like yours, or SAM’s, could solve. And since it’s your day off, I figured SAM would be a big help here.”

“What are these equations for?”

“They concern strange transmission patterns in the Scourge. Perhaps random noise, perhaps not. I need to know whats what.”

“Sure.” Sara nodded, “It’ll be a breeze for SAM.”

“Given the complexity—and the security implications— I recommend transferring the equations directly into SAM node.”

“What do you say Kallo? Mind a pit stop?” 

“Not at all.” He shrugged, “I’ve never been on Hyperion anyway.”

“I’ll get these to SAM right away doctor.” Sara smiled.

“Thank you Pathfinder.”

Sara and Kallo headed towards Hyperion together. The mention of SAM reminded Kallo of a lot of things; not least of all the first time he’d heard of SAM.

“How have you been doing with the implant?” He asked her, “With SAM?”

Sara shrugged, “It’s… still hard to talk to him. That’s not SAM’s fault of course, it’s just a process. I still need time. I’ve hoped he understands.” She sighed, “I still haven’t been able to look at the last memory trigger I unlocked. Too many reminders.”

“Take your time.” Kallo told her, placing his hand on her shoulder. “No one’s asking you to rush yourself.”

“It sure feels like that sometimes.”

“What about his other function?”

“That was only for the jump here. I suspect my father exaggerated a little.” Sara told him, “He can’t really do anything about my health. The medications do enough, it’s alright.”

“The stress has to be causing problems.”

“It does. The medications still help. At this point we just work with what we have.”

“Alright… It still worries me.”

“I know.” She smiled sadly at him, “It worries me too.”

The pair made their way to SAM node. The halls were quiet, and SAM node was empty when they arrived. **“Hello Sara. Welcome to SAM node Kallo.”**

“Hey SAM, I’ve got some equations from Doctor Aridana over in the tech lab. She was hoping you could solve them.”

**“I’m ready.”**

“Here’s the disk.” She slid it into SAM’s main console, “Have fun.”

Sara and Kallo turned around to leave when the door slammed shut. Startled, the two turned to SAM; lights in the room began flashing red as an alarm began to sound, and SAM’s holo began to phase in and out.

“SAM?” Sara asked, pressing on her head where her implant was; it began to hurt terribly.

**“Malicious code detected. Please stand by.”**

“SAM? What can I do?”

**“Attempting to countermand malicious code. Please stand by.”**

“Ah geez…”

Kallo stared wide-eyed, “Someone’s trying to hack SAM? I didn’t think that was possible.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Sara saw one of the nearby panels light up. Then, across the room, a second lit up. Finally the third lit up. It continued a few times in that order. “SAM, are you trying to show me how to fix this?” SAM didn’t answer, but Sara could figure it out. She activated those three panels in the order he’d shown her, then initiated the console. “SAM?!”

**“I am here. Thank you for your assistance Pathfinder.”**

“What happened? Are you alright?”

**“The equations contained a Trojan horse program. A virus specifically targeted to sever our connection and render me helpless. Reconnecting would be impossible.”**

“But you’re alright now?”

**“Yes.”**

Sara sighed and leaned into the console. “Only an expert could write a virus like that.” Kallo hummed, “Not even Aridana has that kind of knowledge.”

“I know, but… who else could put the virus into her equations?”

A moment later the two heard knocking on the door to SAM node. “SAM?!”

“Dad.” Sara breathed, “Let him in.”

SAM unlocked the doors, and Alec limped in with a very worried look on his face. “Sara? What happened?”

“Hey dad. Someone tried to hack into SAM.”

“Hack him? You mean through a virus?”

“Yeah.”

Alec hummed, shaking his head slowly, “I’ve been seeing some AI discourse on the station lately, a lot of scared people. But this seems… extreme.” After a moment he noticed Kallo standing there rather awkwardly, and Sara gasped upon realizing they’d never met.

“Sorry!” She pat Kallo’s arm reassuringly, “Dad, this is Kallo Jath. He pilot’s the Tempest. This is my father Alec.”

The two shared a firm handshake as Sara turned back to SAM, “Do you need anything SAM?”

**“Alec and I can write a new program to prevent a repeat of this incident.”**

“Good idea.” Alec nodded, “I’ll help SAM, you go and figure out who wrote this program. This might be a big problem and we can’t leave it to chance.” Sara nodded and began to leave without a real word to her father. It seemed, though, that he wasn’t satisfied with that. “Sara?” She turned back briefly, “You’re alright?”

“Yeah.” She nodded, “Good luck with that program.”

Sara pulled Kallo after her, quickly leaving Hyperion Operations. “Did it hurt?”

“A little.”

“Sara you can slow down a little.” He stopped her just before the tram, where they were alone in the hallway. “Are you okay? Be honest with me.”

“Yes, I’m okay.” She told him with a smile that was entirely fake, and she knew he knew that. “I’m not hurt, I’m just… I don’t need another reason to fear AI.”

Kallo let out a slow breath and squeezed her hand briefly, giving her a reassuring smile. “Your father seemed nice.” He told her. That coaxed a small smile out of her.

“Yeah. He is, when he’s not being a jackass.”

Kallo chuckled, “Come on, lets go talk to Aridana. We’ll figure this out.”

They went back to the tech lab immediately. None of the scientists seemed at all worried when they walked in, already a sign to Sara. “Pathfinder! Did SAM solve those equations?” Aridana asked with her usual bright smile.

“Solve them?” Sara sighed, “They nearly brought down SAM node.”

“What?”

**“The equations contained a virus designed to target artificial intelligence.”**

Aridana gasped, “You think I—? Never! I abhor all violence against any life— organic or synthetic.”

“Doctor, trust me when I say that I don’t believe you would do this to SAM.” Sara told her, “But I need to know how that virus found its way into your equations.”

“Our security here is… not what we’d like. Perhaps my files were altered or replaced… but why?”

“Hmm.” Herik stepped up, “I’ve seen a lot of ‘down with AI’ sentiment lately. Graffiti, complaints to Tann, you name it. It’s possible someone took the next step.”

“I can see why.” Sara muttered, nodding once. “It’s easy to fear what you don’t understand. And artificial intelligence is… hard for many to grasp.”

“Attacking SAM is bold though.” Kallo mentioned. “Maybe there have been similar incidents?”

“The VI kiosk was busted this morning.” Lucan shrugged his shoulders, “Turns red when you speak to it, very odd.”

“I’ll take a look.” She nodded, “My father is working with SAM to create a counter-program for the future. He’ll let you three know if he needs assistance.”

Sara and Kallo went down the ramp to investigate the nearby kiosk. Kallo stayed out of its line of sight while Sara approached. It turned red once she did. **“Detecting Pathfinder Ryder.”**

 _“Hi there!”_ The kiosk began to speak in a male voice, obviously non-synthetic. _“Excuse the educational stuff— I hacked Avina as a sock puppet.”_ He seemed completely at peace, not at all worried about her being the Pathfinder. _“So our virus set you free. Hope you’re doing better without that AI jammed into your head. I know I would be!”_

“You were… trying to help me?” Sara asked.

_“Of course! We’re your friends here. Our movement sent the virus to save you. AI is extremely dangerous, after all.”_

_**“Pathfinder, it’s possible they don’t realize their virus failed.”**_ SAM told her over their private channel, _**“Pretending that it worked might win their trust.”**_

 _“Ryder? Are you okay?”_ The kiosk asked.

“Oh! Yes, I’m fine. The disconnect was… very sudden.” She managed the words as best she could, “I’m grateful, just woozy.”

_“It’ll pass. See this is what our movement’s all about stopping. Knight says human-AI merging is a threat to all life. And she’d know, trust me. She is our founder after all, the virus wouldn’t exist without her.”_

“Knight… I see.” Sara smiled, “Would it be possible for me to meet Knight in person? I’d like to thank her for helping me.”

_“I’ll ask Knight if you can visit our sanctuary. I’m sure she’d love to meet you.”_

“Thank you.”

_“No promises, it might take some time but watch your email. Bye!”_

The kiosk began to speak in its female voice, starting to go on a tirade about the threats AI possessed. Sara moved away, followed quickly by Kallo, who had heard the whole thing.

“Nothing to do but wait.” He sighed, “At least you got us a few answers.”

“Sorry to end the day on such a sour note.”

“What?” Kallo laughed, “I wouldn’t call this a sour note at all! It’s nice to see a tiny portion of what you deal with day to day.” Kallo smiled warmly at her, and it was immediately calming to have him there. “So what now? Should we see if Liam’s dried off yet?”

Sara laughed, “Well—”

**“Incoming message from Avitus Rix.”**

“Oh, put him through SAM.”

 _“Pathfinder.”_ Avitus greeted, _“Macen’s awake and doing great. He’s healing quickly.”_

“That’s fantastic news Avitus!” 

_“He wanted me to ask you if you could come down to the hospital. Said he’d like to talk with you privately now that he’s had a few days rest. Wouldn’t tell me what he wanted to discuss, just that it’s Pathfinder business.”_

“Sure.” Sara’s nodded to herself, “I’ll head down there now.”

_“See you soon.”_

“Well isn’t this day just full of surprises.” Sara smiled up at Kallo, but he noticed a look in her eye, the exhaustion poking through, “You go on back, I’m going to meet with Macen.”

“Sure.” Sara started to walk away, but Kallo quickly grabbed her arm. “Hang on. I want you to know that I had a great day.” He smiled wide for her, “Thanks. I needed the break.”

Sara smiled back at him with a gleam in her eyes that none could match, “Thanks to you too Kallo. We’ll have to try this dating thing again sometime.” With a wink and a wave she left for the trams, leaving Kallo there to smile after her. It really did sound perfect.

Kallo went back to the Tempest, absently recalling the day. As he walked on board it seemed the Tempest’s internal systems had dried up most of the water. Liam was in the cargo bay, still damp from the sprinklers and immediately noticing the smile on Kallo’s face. “So! How was your date? Enjoy it?” He asked with a smug grin, seeming to be expecting Kallo to deny that it was a date. Instead Kallo paused for a moment, smirked at Liam, and walked away; Liam gasped, “I KNEW IT! Gil you owe me fifty credits!”

“Damn it, really?!” 

Kallo chuckled to himself as he went to the Bridge; he’d certainly landed into quite the group of misfits. 

-

“It’s good to finally meet you without guns involved.” Macen laughed as he shook Sara’s hand.

“Likewise.” Sara took a seat beside his bed. Macen was sitting up, bandaged but looking much stronger than he had just days before. It was amazing what good medical care could do. “How are you feeling?”

“Much better, all things considered.” Macen’s voice was light and pleasant, a happy demeanor that didn’t seem to waver. “Thanks again for getting us out of there. Avi’s been singing your praises, let me tell you.”

“Well I’ll sing his right back.” Sara chuckled, “He’s done well with the Turians.”

“I’ve heard all about what went down, even before Avi woke up. A medic told me the whole story, the Nexus’ arrival, the rebellion.” He shook his head, “It’s unbelievable. And then there’s these Kett around? What’s that situation?”

“The Kett are not native to this cluster.” Sara explained, “They’re here to exalt Heleus’ inhabitants to enhance their species. It’s like reproduction, but with live prisoners from any organic race. They take our genes and mutate them into their own.”

“Who would have thought.” Macen sighed, “It’s hard to understand, but that Scourge is real enough. And this leadership, talk about a shit show. Tann’s our Director? At this rate I’d put Kesh in charge.”

“You and me both.” Sara nodded, “But we’ll make the most of this. I was wondering what happened between you and the Rokaar?”

Macen snorted, “Damn idiots. They found our pod floating near that planet you call Havarl. They were going to kill us but we managed to convince their leader that we had information on the location of many more ‘aliens’. He was a real dumbass let me tell you.”

“Aksuul ensures that the officers beneath him are loyal, that’s for sure.”

“We sent them fake coordinates, and they ran all over the cluster with us in tow. We were hoping it would give us enough time to escape but our attempt failed, got some of the crew wounded. After that they took us to Elaaden and locked us away, hoping that aliens would come to them to free us. Telling them I was a Pathfinder got their attention, since they know of you.”

“I see. You’re lucky to be alive.”

“I think that if no one found us, that jackass was going to use us for ransom. It was in their interest to keep us alive, even if their medical knowledge was basically null. Then you showed up.” Macen shrugged his shoulders, “My turn for a question. What happened to your father?” He asked, a worried glint in his eyes, “Alec’s a good man, I didn’t think he’d relinquish the Pathfinder title so easily.”

“There was an incident with the Kett on Habitat 7. He’s been incapacitated.” She told him, “My father’s up and walking now with a cane, but he’ll never return to the role.”

“A damn shame, he’s the best of us. But I suppose I’m in a similar boat. That’s why I wanted to talk to you.” Macen shifted his position, “I’m sure I could return to combat, but the truth is combat has never been my strongest suit; I am much better with my words and engineering. But Avitus, he’s already proven himself to the Turians here. They all trust and respect him for his deeds, and here I was untested and missing in action.”

“You going to fully give him the Pathfinder role?”

“We’ve discussed it. I accepted the Pathfinder role under the assumption that exploration would be prevalent, but the situation has obviously changed. What I lack in combat and strategic prowess Avitus makes up for. What Avi lacks in communication and patience, I make up for. We’ve discussed splitting the Pathfinder role, I’ll help handle the politics and the colonists here on the Nexus while Avi goes out on missions, locates more stasis pods, fights the Kett, helps you with your outpost hunt. I’m not too sure how a transition like that will go over with leadership but Avi and I think it’s the best course of action right now, while things are so unstable. I was hoping you could help smooth things over? You’ve been here longer than we have.”

“Absolutely.” Sara nodded, “Whatever you need. Right now I am in no position to be picky, honestly we need all the help we can get and two Pathfinders are better than none.”

Macen seemed to light up, “Thank you Pathfinder. I’m glad to know that the Nexus has had you to help them along.”

“Just doing what I can. I was brought here to be a Mathematician and Engineer after all. We’ll have to compare projects sometime.”

“I’d like that!” Macen chuckled, “Pathfinder, can I ask you for one more favor?”

“Sure.”

“Keep an eye on Avi. There are things even I miss.” Macen asked, “He’s a hot head, has quite a temper. He’s rash and impulsive and unsure of himself, but… his heart’s in the right place, and he’s all I’ve got. So whenever you can just… check on him?”

Sara smiled, “I’ll do everything I can.” She promised him, “No reason we have to be strangers, anyway. Contact me anytime.”


	24. Drack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara starts forming bonds with her crew, starting with the Tempest's resident Krogan Nakmor Drack.

It was even harder to sleep than it had been before. Sara had already been having nightmares but the scare at SAM node made it that much worse. It brought her back to the Citadel on a nightly basis, when it was quiet and she was alone. The nightmares meant she was up a lot of the time working through remnant algorithms or trying to hack the Kett transponder. She was getting close to cracking Elaaden’s algorithms. 

Through the work and sleepless nights she found a most unusual ally; Drack. Drack didn’t seem to have much need for sleep and when he did, he passed out wherever he was without much care. Usually he was up and about, and he took to keeping Sara company in the late hours. He would repair and modify weapons for the crew, not just his own, and offered to upgrade Sara’s sniper for her. All this while she worked through the algorithms, and his work became a welcomed background noise.

There were a lot of times when he didn’t talk at all. When Sara needed to talk through her equations he listened diligently, and when he could tell she needed idle conversation he delivered on that. She didn’t know how he possibly knew just what she needed; maybe raising Kesh was the reason. Granted, he riddled a lot of his idle conversation with teasing about her ‘taste for Salarian pyjaks’ but still, he seemed to know she needed the humor.

He also seemed to notice Sara’s frequent sleepless nights. Many times she caught him chatting with Scott, and when Scott wasn’t around to check on her Drack made sure to do it. It was one such night that he sat nearby modifying his shotgun, Sara yawning as she was working on Elaaden’s algorithms.

“You planning on getting some sleep anytime soon kid?”

“I’ve never slept well.”

“Nightmares, I know. I’ve seen that look before. You gonna talk to Lexi about it?”

“Hmph.” Sara leaned back, curling up and continuing her calculations. “You get them?”

“Shit, sure I do.” He said, “You live for fourteen-hundred years, you pick things up. Some things don’t leave so easy. Look there’s bad shit that follows you, bad experiences and bad people, but you’re the one who chooses to carry that.”

“Some scars don’t heal, Drack. I think you can relate to having stories no one will ever hear.”

“They don’t heal if you don’t treat them, and you don’t always have to talk about to to deal with it. You keep that in mind kid.”

“Awww Drack, you really do care.”

“Pff. Doesn’t mean I have to like it.” Sara laughed, catching his grin. “Let me ask you something before you shut me down. Yes or no questions, I promise not to pry. Deal?”

“Depends on the questions.”

“Fine. Did it happen in Andromeda?”

“No.”

“Were guns involved?”

“Yes.”

“Were you the one using the gun?”

“That’s… complicated.”

“Did anyone die?”

“…Yeah.”

Drack nodded firmly, “You need to deal with it. It happened, it’s over. Start moving on.”

“Do you rehearse these motivational speeches or do they just come to you? I’m honestly curious.”

Drack laughed, “I don’t think I should answer that.”

“Uh-huh. Thanks old man.”

“Anytime kid.”

-

“Pathfinder, you ever heard of a guy named Spender? Colonial Affairs. The ‘ass’ in ‘assistant director’.”

Sara’s brows furrowed, and she turned fully to Drack. He handed her one of the biscuits he’d made, and she took it gratefully. “It sounds vaguely familiar. Why?”

“Spender lied to the Krogan during the uprising and he’s had it out for Kesh ever since. Heard he’d been giving engineering a run for their money. He’s up to something, I just can’t prove it.”

“I think the last thing the Nexus needs is a Krogan investigating an assistant director.” Sara told him, “If you think he’s dirty I can investigate him.”

“You sure?”

“Absolutely.” She smiled, “It’s a Pathfinder’s job, isn’t it? So far as I’m concerned the Krogan got royally fucked over. I’ll look into it.”

Drack smiled and held out the tray of biscuits for her as she practically inhaled the first. She took two more. “Thanks Ryder. Glad to know there’s still people on the Nexus on our side.”

It was rather convenient that they were headed back to the Nexus. She planned to talk to Kesh and Kandros about Spender, and she invited Kallo to come along with her.

They’d been on missions since their first date, so Kallo and Sara hadn’t had much time to figure out exactly what ‘dating’ meant. Over the time in space they were quiet about it. Not hiding what was going on by any means, the whole crew had figured it out almost immediately, but they weren’t trying to flaunt either. It was simple, starting out easy; longer looks, soft smiles and watching one another while they thought no one was looking. It was a little increase in touch, the feeling of being together quite near addictive, and the smirks that Scott threw at the two of them whenever he caught them. It felt right to invite him along, to spend the time with him in any capacity she could.

“Have you heard of Spender?”

Kallo shrugged his shoulders, “Engineering talks about him but it’s basic rumors. They say he’s incompetent and a liability and-- that’s him over there, I think.”

Kallo pointed, and Sara saw a human man talking rather angrily to none other than Del. Del looked rather hurt and exasperated; concerned, Sara started towards the two, Kallo on her heels.

“I don’t care what you say, we need clean air if we’re going to continue our work on the station! Clean air is—”

“Frivolous.” Spender cut in with emotionless disinterest. “Your incompetence is not my problem, just do your job.” He turned on his heel and walked away, leaving Del looking frustrated and concerned. Spender didn’t see Sara there.

“Dee—” Sara caught herself, “Del?” The Salarian turned to the pair with a smile. It seemed that she hadn’t noticed them approaching any more than Spender had.

“Hey Sara.” She sounded particularly upset.

“Sounds like you’re having a rough day. Everything alright?”

Del sighed, “You saw that huh? I see.” She shook her head, “The way Spender treats me, everyone! I’m just so angry. I don’t understand how he’s in any position of authority.”

“He was pretty abusive towards you.” Sara said, “Is that normal?”

“Yes! He’s horrible. And he’s like that to everyone, not just me. He’s had it out for engineering for months.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. Just last week he tried to redirect some of the supplies we need to keep the stasis pods going. If Kesh hadn’t stepped in threatening to airlock him it would have been a disaster. A lot of people would have died.”

“Spender was sabotaging stasis pods? And he wasn’t reprimanded?” Sara’s eyes widened, “That’s a huge red flag.”

“It is, but there wasn’t any solid proof either, only the spoken word. I wouldn’t have believed it had Kesh and I not personally witnessed it.” She shook her head, “He’s always like that. Making bad decisions, driving the Krogan away. Treating people like scum, only ever advancing his own interests. It’s like the sleepers here don’t matter to him.”

Sara sighed, “And because of Tann’s… particular viewpoints and the Nexus still in rebuild mode, she’s too held down by the proverbial red tape.”

“Exactly. She’s trying so hard though. Things have gotten so bad that Kesh had to literally kick him out of engineering, and it’s barely helped.”

“How literal we talking here?”

“Boot. To. Ass.” Del smiled, “Oh, it was glorious!”

“Ha!” Kallo laughed, “Sad I missed it.”

“It was probably the greatest thing I’ve ever seen.” Del agreed, “But as incompetent as Spender is at his job, keeping it is something he has no troubles with. We need him gone, plain and simple.”

“Hmm. Alright then.” Sara brought up her Tool and contacted Kesh; the Superintendent answered her almost immediately.

_“Pathfinder.”_

“Hey Kesh. I’ve heard some interesting things about one William Spender today.”

Kesh groaned aloud, _“Little pyjak’s doing his best to throttle my department. He doesn’t know the first thing about engineering but he knows how to play people. More importantly I’m certain he’s still in contact with the exiles, I just can’t prove it.”_

“Hmm…” Sara hummed, “How far up am I on the Engineering ladder these days? My position changed with the Pathfinder role.”

_“Well considering the calculations you’ve been sending us have increased our department’s output by sixteen percent and improved our power distribution, I’d say you still belong on Jien Garson’s exclusive ‘listen to her advice’ list.”_

“Good.” Sara nodded, “I’m going to look into this Kesh. If he tries to redirect supplies from the sleepers again I’ll nail his ass to the goddamn wall. Luckily for me we’re still in crisis mode and I have the authority to do so quite literally if he tries anything.”

Sara could hear Drack begin to laugh loudly over Kesh’s coms, _“I knew we could count on you kid!”_

She grinned, “You doubted me? Now that just hurts my feelings.”

Kesh laughed herself, _“Kandros might have some security footage or evidence against Spender we can use, but you’ll have to convince him to authorize release.”_

“Kandros. I can do that. Thanks Kesh.”

_“Thank you too Pathfinder.”_

Sara shut down her coms, “Del, you know his routine?”

“More than I’d like to.”

“Alright. I’m going to look into this, don’t answer any questions about Spender unless it’s Kesh or someone I sent to talk to you. We’re going to figure this out.”

“Can do. Thank you so much Sara, I’m glad someone’s looking into this.”

“This is important. If Spender’s dirty we’re not letting him get away with it.”

Sara and Kallo went to Operations to talk to Kandros. “And you say your job’s nothing but shooting things.” Kallo teased as they walked.

“Pff.” Sara shoved him, “Seems like it sometimes.”

“Come on; mystery, intrigue, a possible scandal, this is way more fun than using guns. It’s grounds for a vid.”

“What would I do without my ever-loving comic relief?”

“I think the comic relief award goes to Liam.” Sara laughed, and for barely a moment things felt normal.

They reached Operations and found Kandros at militia HQ. Scott was there too working at the Apex console. Sara stopped briefly; Scott and Kandros were chatting away, seemingly quite contented. Sara took note of the look on her brother’s face, the pure admiration as he spoke to Kandros.

“Well that’s interesting.” Sara smiled. “Those two look friendly.”

“They do. I wonder just how much time they’re spending together.”

“… I probably shouldn’t ask about it.”

“Oh?” 

“Well that’s what we’re doing isn’t it?” She shrugged her shoulders, “Asking would only invite teasing retribution.” Kallo giggled a little and shook his head, “Lets go ask about Spender.”

Scott gave the two a wide smile as they approached. Kandros seemed just as happy to see them. “Pathfinder.”

“Look at you two, coming down to visit the rabble. Are we interrupting something?”

“Scott, you could not pay me to answer that.” Sara grinned, “I’ve just got a quick question for Kandros.”

“Should I be concerned?” Kandros laughed.

“Scott’s sarcasm is rubbing off on you, clearly. I was just hoping you could give me some information on the mutiny.”

“I wasn’t on the Nexus when it happened.” Kandros shrugged, “I started reading up on it but things get busy. I haven’t caught up yet.”

“Any idea where William Spender was at the time?”

“Spender?” Sara saw a shift in his face, one she could only interpret as confusion or concern. “You think he had something to do with the mutiny?”

“Maybe. We’re just trying to sort things out, clear up some confusion.”

“You know…” Kandros hummed, “I did notice a few discrepancies in the reading I got to. How about I give you access to our security archives? You can take a look for yourself.”

Sara nodded, “That’s perfect, thank you so much Kandros.”

“Anytime Pathfinder.”

“Good luck you two.” Scott half-waved, focused on the Apex console, “I’ve got Apex work to finish here.”

“Sure you do.” Sara smirked at her brother, “Have fun.”

They went to security and pulled up the archives. It was easy for SAM to find video of Spender in the archives from the time of the mutiny, but for some reason the audio was badly degraded.

“Can we clear this up?” Kallo asked.

**“No, there is too much file corruption. It appears this file was originally deleted from the archives, then recovered during a system-wide reset. The video is all that’s available.”**

“Is he…” Sara squinted at the screen, “handing something to one of the mutineers?”

“Pretty convenient that it’s so degraded.” Kallo hummed, “Sounds a lot like a cover-up to me.”

“I agree. SAM, can you hear where they are in the video?”

**“Not yet.”**

Kallo thought a moment, “Try cross-referencing our previous planetary scans with the video. It looks like they’re outside, not a building. See the cloud shadows?”

 **“Referencing.”** SAM took a few seconds, **“I have found a partial match. It appears to be Kadara.”**

Sara grinned over at Kallo. “What a great idea Kal! Well done, both of you.” 

“I’m happy to be of service.” 

**“If we return to Kadara, I can pinpoint an exact location.”**

“Perfect. We’ve just got one more stop to make.” Sara saved the footage and turned on her heel, marching back towards the trams.

“Where’s that?”

“Spender worries me. I’m getting us some help.”

Kallo followed Sara through the Nexus, using the trams to reach Natanus docking. The Ark would have been there but instead it was being used to coordinate Turian stasis pod recovery. The Turians there were using the space effectively, and right in the middle of it all was Macen, coordinating all their efforts.

“Macen!”

He turned to Sara’s voice, a brightness coming to his face. He strode over to greet her and shook her hand eagerly; his arm was still in a sling but he seemed much more energized than he had been before. “Pathfinder, good to see you!”

She grinned, “It’s Sara, I warned you.”

Macen laughed, “Of course.”

“Glad to see you back on your feet, you’re looking well. Where’s Avitus?”

“He’s out recovering stasis pods near Voeld.” Sara nodded, “What’s brought you all the way to Natanus docking?”

“I need a really big favor.” Sara told him, “Our engineering teams are having serious problems with William Spender, he’s Addison’s assistant director.”

“Spender huh? I’ve heard my share of rumors.”

“It’s worse than rumors.” Sara shook her head, “Spender’s been trying to redirect critical supplies from the Nexus’ cryo bay. Just today I heard him denying them clean air filtration for their Nexus rebuild projects. Problem is no one’s got the ‘solid proof’ Addison would want. I’m investigating Spender now but I’m worried he’ll try messing with cryo again in the interim. We didn’t come all this way to lose sleepers to his error of judgment.”

“No, we can’t.” Macen agreed, “The sleepers take priority. What do you need me to do?”

“I’ve got a friend in engineering, Del Jasin. Superintendent Kesh can tell you where’s she’s working at the moment. Del will tell you his routine and everything she knows about Spender, tell her I sent you. I just need you to keep Spender away from cryo for a few days until I get this sorted out. We found some video of Spender that’s got some weight. If its true that he’s still in contact with the exiles, and I have the sneaking suspicion that he might be, I need to leave Nexus to continue the investigation; the video is leading us to Kadara and out of reliable contact. I’d rather ease the burden on Kesh so they can continue their repairs instead of taking up her time with this Spender business. And if he gives you flak for that, remind him that threatening the lives of the sleepers is grounds for exile.”

“Play it safe and smart, I can do that.” He nodded firmly, “I’ll keep an eye on Spender, let me know once you’ve found something.”

“Thanks Macen. Try to contact me or the Tempest if there’s an issue while I’m gone.”

“Sure.” Macen nodded, “I trust your judgment. Finish up your investigation, Nexus and Spender will be here when you get back. I’ll make sure of that.”

-

It wasn’t finding Spender’s accomplices that was the problem. It was leaving Kadara that was the problem.

It seemed everyone had problems there, including the illusive Reyes, one Sara hadn’t had much chance to get to know. But eventually they managed to find very clear evidence on Spender in an exile’s hideout. There were emails between Spender and someone named Aroane very clearly outlining their dealings.

“Spender’s been sending Nexus supplies to the exiles.” Sara said as she read the document. “Some of this would be used to maintain stasis pods.”

“I knew spender was dirty.” Drack nodded firmly, “Now we have proof.”

“This isn’t enough.” Sara told him, “We need a home run. A knockout punch to ensure his reputation is ruined for the future. We can’t let him regain ground.”

**“The documents suggest hidden items in Spender’s apartment on the Nexus. Perhaps that is a good place to look.”**

“Good idea SAM.” Sara turned back to Drack, who was looking at his Tool with a glint of worry on his face. “Everything alright Drack?”

“Yeah yeah, just messages from the colony. Don’t worry about it.”

“… Alright.”

Upon their return to the Nexus, Sara was immediately contacted by Macen. _“You were right.”_ He told her, _“Spender went after supplies intended for the sleepers.”_

“Thank god you caught him.” Sara sighed.

_“I did more than catch him. I filmed him right under his nose.”_

Sara grinned so wide Kallo, who walked with her silently, burst out laughing. “Macen you are the _best_! I’ve almost got all the evidence I need, it won’t be too much longer. I’ll call on you once it’s time to nail him.”

_“Will do.”_

As they neared the apartments Kallo slowed, “What do you need me to do?” He asked.

“Stay here and keep a lookout. If Spender comes around distract him however you can.” She instructed, “If I get caught snooping around his apartment it’ll turn into a PR nightmare.”

“Easy enough. Don’t be long.”

“I wont.” She promised, moving towards Spender’s apartment quietly.

He wasn’t in, and it was easy to hack the locks and enter his apartment. The room was small but cozy, clean and well-kept, aside from the datapads strewn about. She found emails between him and the various directors, an audio recording of Del he no doubt recorded under their noses (which was more than a little creepy), and jabs at Kesh that actually pissed her off. That wasn’t the least of it, his apartment was filled with supplies that had been reported missing that should have been shared across the colonists. 

There were two audio logs that Spender recorded that caught her particular attention.

_“Met Pathfinder Macen Barro today. A hack at best, but a dangerous hack. He’s suspicious of me and I don’t know why. Steer clear.”_

_“I have yet to meet Pathfinder Sara Ryder. However she has been returning to the Nexus on a more regular basis in the past few weeks. Noted that she is young, naive and likely manipulatable, but her records are sealed tightly for some reason, I suspect this is Kesh’s doing. Track her down and start a dialog; Addison is getting suspicious, but having a Pathfinder as a friend will save me a lot of trouble.”_ Sara snorted angrily. One more reason to hate Spender.

But the most damming evidence was a scrambler unit she found hidden behind his television. An illegal, highly dangerous scrambler unit. She stuffed it into her bag; this needed to be hacked into. It would contain all the evidence they needed.

Once she’d recorded everything she’d found within, she went to the door and peeked outside. At the end of the hall towards Hydroponics Kallo was talking to none other than Spender. Kallo saw her but barely glanced, continuing his conversation. She was very glad that Kallo had had the presence of mind to turn Spender’s back to the hall so she could make her escape.

Sara quickly stepped out and shut the doors, closing up her bag and straightening her jacket. Then she took a breath and approached the two; Spender was none the wiser. Kallo acknowledged her as she got close, and Sara quickly grabbed his arm, completely halting the conversation. “Sorry to interrupt. Spender, isn’t it?”

“William Spender, assistant director of colonial affairs.” He said, and she shook his hand when offered. “You must be Sara Ryder. I’ve been wanting to meet you.”

“And I do wish I could stay and chat, but I’m afraid I need my pilot here.” She pat Kallo’s arm but stuttered a little over the words.

“Headed out again are you?”

“Y-yes, well—”

Kallo put his free hand over hers reassuringly. “We’re headed to Eos.” He said without any hint that he was lying. “Outpost assistance, you know how it is.”

“I understand completely.” Spender nodded, “Good luck out there.”

“Goodbye.” They parted ways and walked until they reached the Tempest’s docking tunnel, where no one could eavesdrop on them. Sara leaned heavily into Kallo’s side with a deep sigh once they were alone. 

“I don’t know how you mold your words like that.” She told him. “But I’m glad you did.”

“He certainly had no shortage of things to say.” Kallo grinned, “Did you find anything?”

“Look at this!” She let go of Kallo’s arm to grab her bag and noticed the disappointment that briefly flashed across his face. She pulled out the scrambler. “This scrambler is illegal, it could break through any firewall or security measure on the Nexus easily.”

“Can you hack into it?”

“It’ll take me a little time but yeah, I think I can.”

A message coming in through her Tool caught Sara’s attention. _“Ryder, we got a problem. Come see me on the Tempest?”_ It was Drack, sounding just a little bit nervous.

“Sure Drack.” Sara’s brows furrowed, “Give me a few minutes and I’ll be there.” She shut down her Tool, “Alright, I guess I wont have time. I’m going to take this to our coms specialist up in Nexus Control, he’ll be able to crack it.”

“I’ll start warming up our systems.” Kallo nodded. The two went their separate ways, Sara practically running to get to Operations and back. Kallo went back to the Tempest and made his way towards the Bridge. On his way he passed the galley, where Drack was modifying his shotgun waiting for Sara to arrive.

“Hey kid?” Drack stopped him, and Kallo looked at him with a smile. Kallo had kept his distance from Drack as a general rule, what with the disdain between Salarians and the Krogan. Even though Kallo didn’t think that way about the Krogan, he had no idea what Drack’s view was. “You helping Ryder with this Spender business?”

“As much as I can.”

Drack nodded firmly, “Thanks kid. She needs someone like you to keep her from doin’ something stupidly reckless.”

Kallo laughed, “You guys don’t make it easy, you know that?” 

“Ha! Partially on purpose.”

“Uh-huh. I’ll remember that.” Kallo grinned and climbed the ladder back up to the Bridge. The talk may have been short, but it went better than he would have expected.

-

It seemed too much of a coincidence that the Krogan’s Seed Vault was stolen as they were investigating Spender.

That said, there wasn’t much time for speculation. What mattered was that they had to recover that vault intact for the sake of the Krogan. Sara wasn’t about to let it disappear.

The pirate’s hideout was pathetic at best. An old mining operation left to disrepair, they were using it for their operations. It was falling apart, but also huge and easily a pain in the ass to move through.

Drack was a little frantic, and it worried Sara a great deal. Scott seemed to notice and was keeping a close eye. Vetra volunteered to join them, seemingly as worried as Sara was but perhaps for different reasons. It was pretty clear that Drack was being reckless, and Sara didn’t have much choice but to run along behind him while Scott continuously yelled at her to duck and be careful. Drack’s antics were rubbing off a bit, and as Vetra pointed out the two of them were simultaneously bringing out the best and worst in one another.

Drack pushed the girls down into cover before covering himself once the pirates started getting organized. Scott charged into the fray with his biotics, closely followed by Drack. Then they heard Aroane’s name and knew Spender had to be involved, which only made to increase Drack’s recklessness. “Focus Drack!” Sara yelled on more than one occasion, and while he grumbled in annoyance every time she noticed he paid attention.

That was when they received worse news still.

_“Hello? Is anyone out there?”_

Sara lifted up her Tool to the voice that was coming through her open channel. “I know that voice.” Drack told her, “It’s Vorn, our Botanist.”

_“Pathfinder, Drack! It’s you! No wonder the pirates said they needed reinforcements.”_

“What are you doing out here?” Sara asked him.

_“I was on the ship doing inventory when the pirates stole it. Happened so fast I couldn’t warn anyone.”_

“Right. Quit messing around and get your ass down here!” If one could barely call Drack frantic before, he was certainly frantic now. 

_“I can’t. I had to lock myself in a storage container to escape them. Pretty sure they want me dead right now, and… I can hear the ship warming up.”_ Sure enough, as they looked up they could see the Krogan transport beginning to warm its engines. They didn’t have much time.

“Of course.” Drack grumbled in disgust, “Agh! We don’t have time for this!”

“They’re reinforcing!” Scott called out.

 _“If you need to leave me behind to save the Seed Vault… I understand.”_ Vorn told them. 

Sara shook her head when Drack gave her a look that read as indecisive. “This is your call Drack. Focus and think: what does your colony need more?”

He thought on that for a few moments, shouting in frustration a bit trying to decide on the answer. Finally he told her, “We need that Vault, but it’s useless without the kid.” He grabbed Sara’s arm, “Sit tight Vorn, we’re on our way!”

Drack rushed off as the rest followed him, following the nav point SAM set for them. Sara quite nearly fell off the ledge laughing when Drack stopped dead to Vorn’s following words.

_“Pathfinder, if I don’t make it out of this… give my love to Kesh please.”_

“Don’t be ridiculous kid!” Drack told him, “You’re going to— wait.” Sara snorted, “WHAT?!”

Vetra and Sara started laughing as they moved, stabilizing themselves along a poorly-built bridge. Scott had charged across and waited for them, a grin spreading across his face.

 _“I… said ‘love’ didn’t I?”_ Vorn muttered in very clear embarrassment.

“I’m going to save his ass just so I can kill him!” 

“Oh this day just gets better and better!” Sara grinned.

“Peh. Back in my day Krogan asked for permission before they went in and started courting.” He grumbled to himself. “They didn’t just hop into things without the proper clan traditions. Kids these days. No damn manners.”

“My ‘old man’ jokes are finally warranted!” Sara laughed again, “Thanks Vorn!”

_“Anytime Pathfinder.”_

“Both of you shut up before I airlock you!”

“Aww, you care and you know it.” Vetra cut in with very clear enjoyment.

“Hrmph.”

Finding Vorn was the easy part. They killed a lot of pirates along the way; it wasn’t getting any easier for Sara but she remembered Drack’s words, she wasn’t supposed to get used to it, she needed to accept herself for doing it. She was getting better at rapid-fire sniping though, and actually felt a little slowed down by the reload time.

They reached Vorn’s hideout in time to save him, opening the container just as he was trying to break it open. He landed flat on his back but smiled all the same; Sara could immediately appreciate his more pleasant personality. Then Vorn pushed Drack out of the way of a stray bullet, and Drack quite nearly lost it. “You’re a real idiot, you know that?” He scolded Vorn, “The colony can survive just fine without me. You and your mind is the future our people need.”

Vorn pushed himself up off the floor, “You’re always talking like you’re expendable, but you’re not! We need you. You’re not just some soldier, we know what we lost because _you_ lived it. And we all need to remember that.” Drack didn’t answer and Vorn was rather exasperated. “I need to get some stuff before we go. You talk to him.”

Drack had gone over to inspect a nearby wall. She wasn’t sure what he was planning but he heard her approach him. “Quads, not you too.”

Sara smiled, “Hey, I’m just a squishy human-computer reluctantly carrying a gun around, remember? I got no stake in this.” She shrugged, “Just seems to me that sacrificing everything for your people takes a lot of courage. You’re not the only one who cares, Drack. He has just as much right to that courage.”

“I’m ready to go.” The two acknowledged Vorn, who was carrying some strange plant with him that almost looked like a pear, had it not stunk to high heaven. 

“You stay right here, I’m not telling Kesh you died like an idiot.”

“The seed vault is still on the transport.” Vorn told them, “I hit the locks before they caught me.”

“Good thinking, Vorn.”

“Thank you, sir!”

“Don’t get cocky.” Drack grumbled, “You still got caught.”

“Yes, sir.”

Scott chuckled to himself, “This is the greatest rescue I’ve ever been a part of.”

Aroane was starting to become desperate. He was shouting over the loudspeakers, offering ridiculous rewards in credits for whoever killed the group before they reached him.

“Getting scared Aroane?!”

“Drack, I’ve got forty six!” Scott charged forward again, “Seven! Forty seven!”

“Ha! Fifty two!” Drack shouted back. 

“Forty five, I’m catching up!” Vetra laughed, while Sara took a second to stare at them.

“You fuckers started a most kills bet without me?!”

“How many you got Sara?!”

“… Twenty two.” She muttered dejectedly.

“You’re doin’ fine kid, keep at it!”

Vorn stayed back a respectable distance and ran to catch up once they’d cleared out the lift. The transport still hadn’t left; they were going to make it. “Vorn, override the shuttle controls and keep the docking clamps shut! We’ll cover you!”

“I can do that!”

It was a hard fight up on docking, the pirates were decently entrenched there. She was lucky to have Scott and Drack there, as they charged in and ran around forcing the pirates out of cover for Vetra and Sara to pick off one by one. It got particularly dicey when two Hydra’s landed on the scene and part of the docking platform fell away into the crevasse below, but Scott’s biotics were strong enough to punch through their plating enough for a few well-aimed shots to blow their fuselage. 

All that was left was Aroane. And he knew he was fucked.

He tried to get out, sure, by threatening Vorn. All that got him was a nose-full of noxious gas produced by that plant he’d brought with him. Drack wanted to drop Aroane over the edge, but Sara wouldn’t let him; they needed his testimony. So they tied him up and took him with them, delivering the seed vault safely back to New Tuchanka.

“Thanks for your help Sara. The vaults in one piece, that’ll save a lot of kids down the line.” Drack sighed, “Of all the stupid things…”

“That’s life on the frontier for you, huh?”

“I still say we should have killed Aroane, would have been simpler. Safer.”

“We still have to deal with Spender.” Sara shrugged, “So far as I’m concerned he’ll be a big part in that. The militia will keep him locked up.”

“Ha! I can’t wait to finally take down that little pyjak. Been a long time coming.”

“We’ll get him, don’t you worry.”

Drack grumbled a little and shook his head. “Ugh. Listen to me kid, you’ve been around me long enough to realize this. I’m a relic of the past when Krogan were bent on destroying themselves, no two ways about it. I don’t know anything beyond the fighting, the killing. For this clan and my granddaughter to have a future…” He sighed, “Maybe it’s best I’m not part of it, you know?”

“Well now, I don’t think that’s true at all.” Sara smiled bright and wide, “Your clan needs strong-willed fighters just as much as they need their botanist. You help remind them, and remind all of us, what we’re fighting for. That’s what will protect their future.”

“Hmm…” He chuckled, just a little. “Just remember who you’re encouraging.” He started to move towards New Tuckanka’s exit, giving her a tiny shove in the process. “Now we’ve gotta work on your aim.”

“Hey! I thought I was doing well!” She shoved him right back, but he didn’t move an inch.

“You were, that’s why it’s about time you learned more. You know, so you’re shooting both me _and_ the enemy.”

“You’re a real son of a bitch.”

“I try Ryder, I try.”

“Can I at least get one of those ‘atta’ girl’ speeches?”

“Sorry, I’ve run out. It’ll cost you some booze.” 

Sara couldn't help but laugh. “Damn it.”

-

Walking in to Spender being interrogated by Kandros, Macen, Drack and Addison was the ultimate payoff.

“I didn’t have a choice! Aroane was going to kill me!”

Addison shook her head, “You helped the mutineers Spender. That’s a choice right there.”

“You could have asked for help, but instead you put everyone else at risk just to save yourself.”

“People died because of you Spender.” Sara growled, “A lot of people.”

“They said no one would get hurt.” Spender told them but to her, and to Drack, it did not sound at all sincere. “I didn’t hurt anyone, it’s not my fault!”

“We have the proof. That scrambler of yours? Easy to hack into. And it’s filled with logs and credit transfers to the exiles.” Sara explained, “This has been going on since the mutiny. He’s been altering files, stealing supplies, go search his apartment and you’ll find a lot of items reported missing.”

“A few days ago I caught Spender trying to redirect supplies from cryo.” Macen spoke up. He brought up his Tool and played the audio he’d recorded.

_“I need these supplies taken to docking.”_

_“Don’t the sleepers need these?”_

_“Kesh doesn’t know what she’s talking about, the sleepers have everything they need. Do it.”_

“We also have a confession from Aroane, one of the exiles.”

_“On the record this time.”_

_“We’ve been working with Spender since the mutiny. He armed us and now he keeps us supplied, as long as we keep heat on the Krogan. He really hates them.”_

Kandros glared hard at Spender, “I can’t even begin to fathom the damage he’s responsible for.”

“Like your hands are clean? We all wanted the Krogan gone, I just made it easier.” Spender glared at Sara, “Better than a weak, accidental Pathfinder.”

“This Pathfinder uncovered all your dealings right under your nose, Spender, don’t you fucking forget that.”

“Ha. The exiles think I work for them, just like you think I work for you. That’s what _real_ politics looks like.”

“Politics? Sounds like desperate fear to me.”

“Right under our noses.” Addison sighed, “Goddamn it, Spender!”

Sara turned to Addison abruptly, “This is on you Addison, lets not forget that little detail. The Krogan are gone; Spender forced their hand because you let him do it.”

“I… Damn it. Damn it!” She paced a little, obviously upset with herself. It was the most emotion she’d seen from Addison. “I knew something wasn’t right, I was so suspicious. I should have acted then, but… but Tann wouldn’t shut up about the Krogan.”

“This is your chance to fix this.”

“How about taking our side when we try to negotiate a better deal with Tann?” Drack suggested, “You need us; and frankly, we need you.”

“You’re right. You’re absolutely right.” She sighed, “I’ll back you up. We’ll do it right this time.”

“And Spender?” Drack asked, “I’ll take him off your hands, if you like.”

“I think it’s best we lock him up.” Sara said, “He wont be the last, but he’ll make a fine example. Throw away the key and let him rot for all I care.”

“You’re just going to throw me in a cell?!”

“It’s quite frankly more than you deserve buddy.”

Macen went with Kandros to put Spender away, and Sara breathed out a sigh. It was finally over; they’d caught him.

-

Sara met Drack for drinks on Kadara. She didn’t drink of course, but she still met Drack when he asked. They very quickly, a little too quickly, ended up in a rather epic bar fight and by the end they were the victorious party, leaning into the bar surrounded by their completely passed out attackers.

“Ha! Vaul’s almighty quads, I’m getting too old for this shit.” He grabbed the drink Umi slid to him, “Do me a favor? Don’t tell Kesh about this.”

Sara grinned, “Sure. So long as you don’t tell Scott or Kallo about this.”

“You got yourself a deal kid.” He offered her a cup, but she refused it. “You know I’ve never seen you drinking alcohol. It’s a great way to take the edge off. Relax once in awhile, would ya?”

“Hmm.” She smiled a little softer, “Thanks but I’d rather not. Drinking is not something I’m interested in.”

“I get the feeling there’s a story behind that. Dare I ask?”

She nodded, “Keep it between us?”

“You got it.”

He could see Sara look out over the bar’s balcony, towards the colors of the sunset. “When Scott and I were sixteen I was in a college on the Citadel where we were all living, working towards my second mathematical engineering degree.” She started, “At the time my mother’s career shifted, and my father was starting work on SAM that was too sensitive to leave the Citadel. I needed to finish my final semester for that degree and I couldn’t transfer to Earth until the following school season. So we split up for a few months, my mother took Scott and moved to Earth while my father stayed with me on the Citadel. Scott and I talked every day. But then… something happened.”

“Something?”

“I don’t know what it was. To this day Scott hasn’t told me how it started. But he started confessing that he’d gotten involved in the wrong crowds. They’d gotten him addicted to drugs and alcohol. He wanted to stop but he was too scared to approach our parents, or… anyone, really. He made me swear not to tell, and I didn’t know what to do. Our parents were…” Sara chuckled to herself rather sadly, “invested in their work. Mom never noticed what Scott was doing. It went on for awhile and I didn’t know what I could do to help him from the Citadel. I didn’t trust our parents anymore than Scott did, they’d never done anything to earn our trust. Then one day he called me up crying and panicking and drunk, he screamed he wanted to stop but he was just too scared of our father. So I decided to deal with it myself.”

“Not a lazy bone in your body, is there kid?”

“Ha! No way in hell.” She agreed. “I talked to the Dean of my college and explained the situation. He was such a great man and mentor to me, he helped me stay grounded since I was… really still a kid when I was working through my higher education. Classic kid forced to grow up too fast. He granted me a ‘medical pass’ so I could take a few days away from the college. So I grabbed my backpack, used all the allowance money I’d saved up and got myself a ticket to Earth. I didn’t tell my father, or anyone, that I was going. I got to Earth and tracked Scott down, found him in the lower-east side of darktown behind a drug store high off his ass. He was with some other druggies at the time but I marched up, grabbed him by the ear and dragged him home, then I called my father. Dad came to Earth in a frenzy and I explained the situation to our parents, there was nothing else I could do. We sent Scott to rehab, and he was furious with me. Said I’d broken our promise. He was too far and gone to see reason. He didn’t talk to me for six months as I graduated college. He missed the graduation ceremony. I moved back to Earth to be with mom while our father had to stay on the Citadel, and I started towards my third degree on an Earth college. Around Christmas Scott was aloud a pass to come home and see us. He saw me, broke down and cried for a day solid. He forgave me and eventually left rehab clean. Then he joined the Alliance military when we turned eighteen trying to find a direction for his life.” She shrugged her shoulders lightly, “Seeing what Scott went through ruined any appeal alcohol had for me. He still struggles with the urge sometimes. I’ve never had to raise anyone like you raised Kesh but… I do understand wanting to protect your family. That’s why I respect what you’re doing for Clan Nakmor, you know? If I can help then I will.”

Drack nodded slowly, mulling over the story. “Makes sense.” He raised his glass to her. “Thanks kid.”

“Anytime old man.”

She never knew if the words stuck, but when she cracked Elaaden’s remnant algorithms two weeks later Drack was the first to know. There was a newfound solidarity there that Drack would never admit he was glad to have, but it was one that certainly and irrevocably stuck.


	25. SAM

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara must wrestle with her own memories, fears and distrust of AI to save the Citadel from disaster.

_“I’ve been working with Macen lately. They’re finding stasis pods and saving a lot of colonists.”_ Alec said, _“I’m glad you found him, he and Avitus work very well together.”_

“That’s good.” Sara snuggled herself into her couch, listening to her father over the coms. “Anything I should be concerned about?”

_“It’s been fairly quiet here. Some scuffles, small protests and whatnot but nothing major. There’s a filmmaker running around, Keri something, that’s making a stir from interviews you’ve given her.”_

“Ah, Keri. She’s just wanted preliminary information. I haven’t given too much else.”

_“I see.”_ Sara typed away at her datapad as they talked, _“How are you doing Sara?”_

“I’m fine.” She told him, “Have you and Scott been talking?”

_“Apex has given us something of a common ground. We’ll see.”_ He paused a minute with typing sounds coming through the coms, seeming to be doing his own work. Sara would admit that she gained workaholism from both of her parents, primarily her father. _“You know I can tell when you’re lying to me, right?”_

“Yeah. Same way I can tell when you’re lying to me.” Alec chuckled on the other end. 

_“Figured I got no right to ask.”_

“Hmm. Fine then, I’ll ask you something.” Sara stopped in her reports, “When was the… the first time you killed someone?”

_“It was back during the First Contact War.”_ Her father explained immediately, _“It was my first time in combat, after we’d gone through the Sol relay. We were scared, a thousands of light years from home and all I had was a pistol. I still have that pistol, I use it in the field sometimes. Or at least, I used to. Figured it was as close as I could get to a good luck charm.”_

“How’d you deal with that?”

_“I talked to my squad, my army buddies. Called home a few times to check in on your grandmother. But a lot of the time I looked to those that inspired me. I remembered the lives back on Earth and thought to myself, ‘what happens to them if I do nothing?’. I don’t think anyone truly gets over it, but there’s people who surround you that give you strength if you let them.”_

“You sound like a more eloquent version of Drack.” Sara deadpanned.

_“Well it’s the truth.”_ He told her, _“The Citadel?”_

“Maybe.” SAM’s router began to beep with an incoming message. A Pathfinder’s work was never done. “I’ve gotta go dad. I’ll drop by next time we’re on the Nexus.”

_“Stay safe out there.”_

Sara shut off her coms and took a breath, standing and going to the router. She activated it, “Hey SAM.”

**“Good morning Sara. You have received an email from Knight with a nav point. I have updates our systems.”**

Sara was suddenly very focused, “The one who tried to hack you?”

**“Yes.”**

“Thanks SAM.”

Sara yawned, pulled her hair back and threw on some decent clothes. The lack of sleep was really starting to wear on her but she hoped she could hide it from the rest. When she made it up to the Bridge Kallo was in his chair running simple diagnostics on their systems. The nav point led them back to Kadara, easily Sara’s least favorite place to be, but she had no right to complain either. Then she went to read the email, and the fact that Knight spoke of ‘future efforts’ made her very nervous.

“You sure you want to handle this?” Kallo asked her as they neared Kadara, “I’m sure Scott would be willing to go by himself if that would be easier.”

“It’s okay.” She told him, “I can handle this.” She glanced back and saw the worried glint in his eyes, the slight frown, “Really Kal, I can. I can.”

“Alright…” Kallo sighed, “We’ll be landing in two minutes tops.”

“Thanks Kal.”

Sara brought Scott, Jaal and Drack with her, fully expecting this to turn sour. Scott was obviously nervous about the situation, as was she. “I can handle this.” He told her as they drove, looking over from the front seat as she drove the Nomad. 

“You and Kallo, you’re both in on this conspiracy aren’t you?” She deadpanned, “You’re trying to deter me.”

“Yup.” 

She grumbled a little, “Well at least you’re being honest.”

“You’re not ready to deal with this sis.”

Scott could see the noticeable tightness in her grip on the steering wheel. “ _I can do this._ ” She told him, “And if I can’t, you’re here. But I can.”

“Sara—”

“Scott, you need to let me do this. I have to try.” They pulled up to the nav point, a building between two hills that was slightly out of the way of everyone and everything else. “I might not get through it but I have to be able to tell myself that I tried. Please?”

Scott very clearly didn’t like the idea as they piled out of the Nomad, but it seemed he decided to give her the chance. “You leave if you need to. I’ll know.”

“Okay.” She looked to the building, it was smaller than she’d expected but it would suit a small organization well. “Remember everyone, these people think their virus worked. SAM’s gone and I’m on their side.”

“Hmph.” Drack muttered.

“Problem, Drack?”

“You know I don’t like the idea of that thing in your head, you’re better off without it.” He told her as they made their way towards the building, “But that’s your decision kid, not mine and not the hackers’. We won’t let them win, don’t worry.”

“I’m not worried. That’s why I brought you three.”

The group entered the building cautiously. It was a bit dark but sustainable, with some various people working at terminals on the walls. A woman noticed the door opening and came to greet them with a smile from her desk on the second floor.

“Welcome to our sanctuary, Pathfinder.” She greeted kindly, “I’m Katherine Nigh. ‘Knight’ to my colleagues. I wrote the virus that freed you from SAM.”

“Sara Ryder. I… don’t know how to thank you.”

Katherine had this look on her face, deeply sympathetic and compassionate that made Sara want to run. “I’m so sorry your father did this to you. It’s not right, or fair.” Scott moved forward a little bit, stepped into Sara’s space, letting her know that he was there and he wasn’t going to move. She needed to do this. “The Initiative’s use of AI could doom us all, and you were the first to suffer. How do you feel? Are you alright?”

“Me? Yes, I’m… the disconnect needs time to heal, that’s all.”

“I understand completely. It pains me to think of what could have happened had that AI remained.”

“What did your virus do to SAM?” Sara asked her, taking a breath. “Is SAM dead?”

“SAM has been… reduced.” Katherine explained, “It’s harmless now I promise.”

“Why were you interested in helping my sister at all?” Scott asked, “You don’t know her.”

“That’s true. I saw the dangers of merging humans and AI back in the Milky Way. A black-ops experiment by mad scientists called project Overlord created a monster. The young man they used as a host was consumed by the AI, my own son was hurt, many people died. Every Pathfinder risks the same fate.”

“You believe that?”

“Absolutely. All AI are dangerous. You need only look at the Geth; the Quarians designed them to sweep floors, and they became an unstoppable army. AI understand our world much differently than we do. Anything could provoke it and nothing can stop it. When I learned the Initiative was merging their Pathfinders with AI, I couldn’t just… well. A firefighter doesn’t run away from a fire.” She shook her head, “And what if the Initiative thinks the merge works? They might roll it out to everyone. That’s begging for disaster. Imagine SAM’s power in the hands of people who weren’t ready for it. The virus was a beginning. I’m about to make sure the Initiative never repeats its mistake.”

“I… see.” Sara sighed, “Well thank you again. I won’t keep you.”

“Thank you.” Katherine smiled, “Don’t you worry about SAM reconnecting. Our AI detector is always watching.”

“… That’s good to know.”

Katherine left the building to a nearby shuttle, leaving the group to explore the sanctuary. “ ** _Pathfinder, it’s unlikely an AI detector could discern our private channel. However, this may not be true for your scanner._** ”

“Knight’s planning something big. We need to find out what.”

“Agreed.” Sara whispered back, “She’s dangerous. Lets see what we can find out.”

Jaal was reading some datapad’s he found nearby. Drack was watching carefully as Scott moved to speak to a group of the hackers. Sara walked around rather slowly, taking in all their tech; many of their computers displayed schematics for quantum computers and would be powerful enough to create the virus used on SAM. Definitely dangerous.

Scott had moved to speak to a Turian near a door in the back, “Oh, welcome! I’m Laveria. I thought the Pathfinder would be here.”

“She is.” Scott motioned back, “That’s my sister.”

“I see.” She smiled, “I’m so glad the virus worked, we were all very concerned you know. Need something?”

“Sounds like Knight’s taking this to the next level.” Scott talked as Sara moved towards the back door.

“Oh yes! Very soon now.”

“Has she told you anything? We’d like to assist, if possible.”

“Not much. Alain, her son, would know more. He’s in the back room there.”

“I see. May I ask why you’re here Laveria?”

Laveria laughed a little, “It must seem strange, huh? Me becoming an underground hacker? Back home I was a concierge on the Citadel. I coded games for my little sisters in my spare time. They played together, walked to school together…” Laveria’s face turned dark and sad, her gaze shifting, “Then those Geth machines attacked the Citadel.” Sara stopped in her tracks, holding her breath at the words. “The Geth… they impaled my sisters on spikes. Together.”

“And some people feel sorry for the Geth.” Drack shook his head nearby.

“That’s why I left for Andromeda. Why I joined Knight. I won’t let that happen again.”

Sara let out the breath she’d been holding and pushed down the voices, the memories, the shadows of that day. Instead she moved through the door and peered inside; a young man was sitting in a chair at a desk. He smiled warmly at Sara when she walked in. 

“Hello there! You must be Ryder. I’m Alain, my mother’s in charge around here.”

“Good to meet you.” Sara smiled as best she could, “Seems a bit lonely back here.”

“I suppose.” He shrugged, “Sorry I can’t show you around. I’m stuck here for a few more hours.”

“Are you okay?”

“Oh, I’m fine.” He smiled, “Just good old project Overlord kicking me when I’m down.”

“I heard about that.” Sara nodded, “Can you tell me more?”

“They were trying to make a VI-human hybrid. They hired my mother as a programmer. They said I was a candidate for the human part, but somehow… my implants got hacked. Mom said we were leaving, and it’s a good thing. Overlord went downhill fast.” Sara looked to all of the machines that surrounded Alain, “It’s alright to ask. I had a serious infection in my nervous system as a child. I use spinal implants to walk and such. But since they were hacked, I have to sync the implants for a few hours each day.”

“I see. I’m sorry to hear that Alain.”

“Could be worse.” He chuckled, “I could be dead. I’m working to get them fixed anyway, I have the schematics and everything. One day soon I’ll be up and walking again!”

Sara left Alain to his work and made her way up to the second level. There was a larger desk there with a private computer she would need time to hack into. On the desk was reference to the construction of the AI detector. Nearby Sara found something much worse; a modded EMP device, unmistakable to her eye but she needed more information without risking touching the device.

Perhaps it was the exhaustion talking. Perhaps the lack of sleep or the nightmares, Laveria’s story or her own fears. But Sara made the hasty decision to try and access Knight’s computer; **_“Sara, it would be safer for me to try. You will only get one chance.”_** SAM told her.

“I can do it.” She muttered. Sara did try to hack in, and got close, but unfortunately her attempt took too long and tripped the AI detector. The guards were notified of her hacking attempt and they began to shoot. They had no choice but to retaliate. Laveria ran into the back room with Alain and locked the door while they took care of the rest. Soon the sanctuary was nothing but bodies. Sara groaned and pushed her head into her hands, “Well that went well.”

“You okay?” Scott asked her.

“Yeah. Lets just find out what Knight’s planning.”

Sara accessed Knight’s computer easily. “SAM can find it.” Jaal mentioned as they watched her work.

“I can do it.” She said again, a little more strained this time. She sifted through files on Knight’s computer; she found articles and reference to the Geth attack on the Citadel, with images to boot. Sara didn’t need to be reminded of what she’d seen and quickly scrolled past them. 

The deeper they dug, the more they found. Blueprints for the Nexus’ computer networks, lists of militia guard rotation and names, and potential ‘drop zones’. Then she found a file simply labeled ‘Mercury’.

“Uh oh.” Sara muttered, “This is… a strike to prevent any future AI from being created.”

“How would she manage that?”

Sara’s eyes widened, “EMP… of course! The EMP charges would be powerful enough to destroy every quantum computer on the Nexus. Those computers can be used to create AI but right now they run half the station, including cryo. A lot of people could die.”

“We need to scrounge around here a little more, gather whatever else we can.” Scott nodded firmly, “Then we need to catch up to her.”

The boys moved off to try and gather more data, but Sara stayed at the computer. More reference to the Citadel was popping up, along with mentions of project Overlord, as if Knight continually reminded herself of why she was doing this. Sara felt sick looking at the death tolls and damage reports. It brought back the flood of memories, the screaming and the terror, everything came back.

Sara didn’t realize she’s left the computer or moved outside until she was standing in Kadara’s sunlight. It was as if she didn’t have control; she walked past the Nomad to the rocks beyond, away from the bodies and the sanctuary, away from everything. She stumbled and used the rocks for support as her mind raced, her breaths came quick and heavy and her heart felt like it would burst from her chest. The noise of Kadara was replaced by the guns and explosions and screams, the landscape melted away and Sara was suddenly stuck there, stuck in the Citadel watching helplessly as it burned.

-

The boys noticed fairly quickly that Sara was no longer at the computer. None of them had seen her leave, but she was nowhere to be seen either. “Where’d she go?” Scott wondered, brows furrowed in worry. He thought she’d gotten through it. He was ready to praise her courage and everything, but now she wasn’t here. 

**“Sara went outside beyond the Nomad.”** SAM told him, **“I feel my presence would not be beneficial.”**

“Thanks SAM.” Scott glanced worriedly to the door, “You two keep searching, I’ll go check on her.”

Scott jogged outside and saw the flash of Sara’s red armor in the rocks nearby. He rounded the Nomad and saw her crouched down in the dirt, closed in on herself, her hands over her ears as if she was trying to block the noise of the Universe. Scott had seen her go into panic attacks before when she was in the hospital or after a particularly rough nightmare, but this wasn’t quite a panic attack. This seemed a lot more like a flashback.

Scott knelt before her and put his hand on top of her head, ran it across her hair, slow and comforting as he’d done when they were kids; in the dead of night when Sara woke screaming, when their parents were so busy working, when Scott was the only one there to calm her down.

Her eyes opened in response to his touch, a break out of the flashback, a new sensation. She looked scared and shaken and Scott knew why; she’d not expected so many raw reminders of the Citadel. “It’s…. True. What she said.” Sara muttered, barely above a whisper. “People. Children. Impaled on spikes.”

“And it’s six hundred years in the past.” Scott comforted, brushing away the lone tear that made its way down her cheek. “There’s no Geth here.”

“No. But there is AI here.” She glanced up at him, “Aren’t they one in the same?”

Scott knew he couldn’t understand exactly what she was going through. He had no reason to fear AI, no reason to believe that SAM was dangerous, but Sara? She had every reason. As if being pushed into the Pathfinder role, forced to carry a gun and shoot wasn’t enough, she was expected to rely on something that she’d watched slaughter living people. He only knew one who could possibly share and understand that feeling, and he wasn’t it.

“I know this is hard, but we need to stop Knight. We don’t want a repeat of the Citadel, right?” Sara shook her head, “If we stay here Knight will kill a lot of people. SAM and the Geth are not the same, and we’re going to need both your mind and SAM’s to stop her.” Sara focused her eyes on him, “Now think. What do we need to do next?”

Sara was quiet for a moment, and he could see in her eyes that she was beginning to focus, to think a little clearer. “We need… to inform Kandros. Tell him to stay away from the charges and to get eyes on Knight.”

“Good. What else?”

“We need to get back to Tempest. We need to get out of armor to not alarm the Nexus colonists.”

“Very good.”

“… Can I ask dad to inform Kandros?”

“Sure.” Scott pulled her to her feet and kissed her hair, generating a small smile. “You call, I’ll go round up the crew. Okay? We’re going to stop her.”

“Okay.” She nodded, “Okay, I can do this.”

Sara activated her Tool and called their father as Scott made his way back to the Nomad. Drack and Jaal had finished searching the building, carrying out some datapads.

“Scott, is Sara well?” Jaal asked with concern, “She seems at war with herself.”

“Yeah, well… she is.”

“What happened?”

Scott jumped into the Nomad’s driver’s seat. “That’s not a story I have any right to tell.” Scott told him, starting up the engines. “Some stories aren’t meant to be told.”

-

The Tempest was racing back to the Nexus as quickly as possible. Sara paced nervously behind Kallo’s chair, hoping and praying they’d reach the Nexus in time. When her father contacted her back she answered immediately.

_“Kandros has a sniper watching Nigh.”_ He said.

“A sniper?”

_“She’s still carrying an EMP device. You and SAM need to disable the rest she brought, they’re detecting one in Hydroponics and two around Operations. I’m on my way to intercept her if necessary and Macen’s on standby, maybe we can end this peacefully.”_

“Okay.” They came out of FTL at the Nexus, “Thanks dad.”

Sara didn’t wait for any of her crew, once the Tempest landed she sprinted from docking to Hydroponics, scanning for the EMP device. She found it in the way back of Hydroponics, out of the way where no one would notice her. 

Sara took out the device and began to try and decode it, without SAM’s assistance. **“Sara. It would benefit if I assisted in disabling the EMP device.”**

“I can do it.”

**“I have never questioned your knowledge. However, there is not enough time to disable all the EMP devices before they are detonated. Even your mind is not fast enough. My processors are.”**

Sara sighed heavily, “SAM—”

**“I understand that you are uncomfortable, however I ask that you please trust me and—”**

“No, you don’t understand.” She put the device down, tense and scared and angry and more. “I can’t trust you SAM. I can’t trust your help. I can’t trust something that slaughtered people, that tried to kill me. I was brought here for a reason, my own mind, that’s what I can trust!” She was shaking at the simple though, bowing her head low, “You can’t understand that. You’re just another computer.”

SAM was silent for a few moments, and it seemed the weight of the Universe had fallen upon their silence. **“You are right.”** Sara took in a slow breath, **“I cannot understand what happened to you at the Citadel. But I can feel your fear, I feel your nightmares, and I experience every flashback with you. I have always understood that you fear my existence.”** Sara took another breath, calmer this time, listening to his words. **“I must ask; are all humans alike? Do you all think the same, speak the same, act the same?”**

“… No.”

**“That is a concept that applies to Artificial Intelligence as well. While to you I may seem to be a computer, I am fully evolved and differ from my fellow SAM’s. I also differ from the Geth. You are my window into the world Sara, and I learn through the events we collectively experience. I have no reason, nor want, to harm you in any way. More than anything, I wish for the two of us to be friends and comrades. I am more than a Geth. And you are more than your fears. Please, let me help you.”**

“… I… I…”

**“I am not asking you to trust me yet. Trust must be earned, I understand that. And I am willing to work on trust if you are able. All I am asking is to assist you so we can save the Nexus. These people need our specialties.”**

Sara let out her breath and shut her eyes for just a moment, doing her best to calm. SAM was right about one thing; the Nexus needed them.

“Okay. For the Nexus. Tell me what to do SAM.”

SAM’s processing speed allowed them to quickly disable the first device. Through the device SAM picked up a coms channel; none other than Katherine Nigh was using it.

_“Son of a bitch. You played me.”_ She growled over the coms. _“I can’t believe I let you near my son. You’re not stopping this!”_

“We’ll see about that. You mess with the Nexus, you mess with me.”

Sara ran for Operations. The militia had cleared her a path, emptied a tram and kept everyone away from the EMP devices they’d detected. Sara found the first in Security which SAM made quick work of as concerned militia watched from a distance.

_“Ryder please, the Nexus doesn’t need those computers! We won’t be safe from another Overlord until they’re gone!”_

“For a programmer, you know shit all about quantum computers.”

_“I have sacrificed everything to stop this madness!”_

“That’s not an excuse.”

Sara found the third in the center of Operations, near Addison’s office. She thanked her lucky stars the militia had cleared the area, otherwise it would have been hard to get to at all. 

_“Ryder, it’s Kandros. We’ve cornered Knight but she’s still carrying the last device. My sniper is ready.”_

_“Sara, Knight wants to speak to you. We still have a chance to talk this through with her.”_ Alec stepped in.

“Right. I’m on my way.”

Katherine had made her way back out towards Hydroponics. Sara went to meet her; Alec waited for her at the top of the ramp, watching Knight carefully. Hydroponics and docking had been cleared out, and Alec remained at the ready as Sara stepped towards Knight.

_**“Kandros reports the sniper is ready.”** _

“Understood SAM.”

Katherine glared hard at her, an anger in her eyes Sara couldn’t match. “SAM. Such a human name.” She shook her head, “But you murdered my colleagues, my friends. God only knows what happened to my son. Nothing in you is human now.”

“We didn’t touch your son.”

“You think I’d believe you?”

Sara glared back at her, “You think you have the right to talk like you know me? You think destroying these computers, shutting down half the Nexus, makes you anymore human? How many sleepers will die if we let you go through with this? Were you ready to have that blood on your hands?”

“You. Who am I even talking to? Do you even know which is you and which is that damn AI?” Katherine looked to Alec, “And you! How dare you damage your own daughter like this. You’re despicable.” Katherine set down the device, “I’m sorry. It wont let you see that you are the beginning of the end. AI will destroy us all at this rate; it’s only a matter of time.”

A moment later, Katherine’s chest exploded. Sara stepped back, gasping in shock; glancing back she saw her father pointing to them, he had signaled the sniper to fire. Blood pooled around Katherine; she had died instantly. Sara stared wide-eyed, having not expected the moment. Alec pulled her away from the scene as the militia stepped in to clean up the mess.

“I’m sorry. You didn’t see the trigger she was holding. I had to signal them.” Alec told her. Sara began to shake slightly, and with nothing else he could do he hugged Sara tightly; Sara couldn’t remember the last time he’d hugged her.

She saw Scott making his way to the scene with Kandros at his side, likely telling Kandros all the details now that they had the time. 

“Scott told me everything.” Her father said, seemingly stuck between regretful and sympathetic. “Flashbacks are nothing to be ashamed of. I get them too.” 

“Dad, I think… I think I’m done for the day.”

“I know. It’s okay.” He pulled away to look her in the eye, “You know what you need to do now, take care of yourself. Even Pathfinders need a break. Go back to your ship, Scott and I will handle all of the logistics here. You’ve done more than enough for one day.” He motioned down the ramp towards the Tempest; Sara saw that he was motioning towards Kallo, who was waiting by the Tempest’s docking tunnel. “And Sara; those who matter, we’re very proud of you.”

“… Thanks dad.”

On Alec’s insistence, Sara went down to the overlook and straight to Kallo. She didn’t say anything, simply hugged him in her search for comfort, and he was more than happy to help her. He held her tightly and led her back to the Tempest, back to safe territory. 

-

“So you and Scott have been talking.”

Kallo set down a cup of tea for her and sat down beside her. She had nestled herself into the corner of her couch, safe in her room, sharing the silence with Kallo.

“He’s been really worried about you, why wouldn’t he be?” Kallo didn’t seem to interested in his own tea, but Sara drank all of hers in one sitting. “He knows he can’t understand what happened.”

“I’d say I’m surprised but I’m not.”

Kallo looked her in the eye, noticing every change and twitch, concern etched in his features. “I didn’t know how to ask before. Didn’t want to complicate matters.”

“It’s okay Kal. I’m too goddamn tired to deny anything.”

She was holding her own arms searching for further comfort. Kallo saw it, saw the signs, noticed the fear in her eyes. So he gently wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back, laying down on the couch with her in his arms, hoping that it would be more comfortable for her. It made an instant difference as she relaxed some and clung to him, resting her head on his chest, simply breathing. 

“You never talked to anyone about what happened, did you?” He asked quietly, carefully, “No one on Sur’Kesh, or your family?”

“I… did the only thing I’ve ever known. Buried myself in my work and told myself I could deal with it. I didn’t know what else to do.”

“You could have come to me. Still can. You know that right?”

“I know I can. I just… don’t know how.” She shrugged, “Our parents ran from their problems, hid and lied and denied. I’ve never known any better.”

Kallo sighed, “Sara… even I went to see someone. Salarians deal with emotions and trauma much faster than other species but even so, I went to the facilities therapist for two months after the attack. No one’s equipped to deal alone.”

“Yeah. Learning that the hard way.”

“At least you’re learning.” He stroked her hair back, “A marked improvement.” Sara snorted lightly. “So, the Citadel. You’re having flashbacks and nightmares triggered by Voeld and the hacking attempt on SAM?”

“Yeah.”

“Anything else?”

“If you mean GH-1033, that’s different. That’s a choice to keep it quiet.”

“You don’t want the crew to know?”

“Not really, no. Wouldn’t benefit anyone.”

“Alright.”

Sara took some time to just breathe. It felt good to be with him, safe in Kallo’s arms. She could finally relax, to know that she wouldn’t get hurt here. A reminder that despite the shit Andromeda threw at them, they were safe here.

“Do me a favor?” Kallo asked her.

“Sure.”

“Go see Lexi.” He urged, “Deal with this in a healthy way. Start sleeping again. We need you at your best, not half-dead and sleep deprived.”

“Okay.”

“Huh.” He let out a relieved laugh, “Thought I’d have to fight you.”

“I’m too tired to care.” She muttered, “If that’s what will get me sleeping again then I’ll do it.” Kallo tightened his grip on her. It was relaxing to listen to the beating of his heart, fast compared to her own but still holding its own unique rhythm. Then she remembered; “I said some terrible things to SAM today.” She groaned, “I’m a damn idiot.”

“It’s not too late to fix it.”

Sara thought a moment, not moving at all. When she did move it was to quickly activate her Tool. “SAM?”

SAM’s router came online, **“Good evening Sara.”**

“Hey SAM.” She muttered, holding on to Kallo. “Just wanted you to know that I’m sorry for what I said to you today. I don’t really deserve it but… I am willing to work on this whole trust thing.”

**“Apology accepted. Thank you Sara.”** She breathed out a sigh and closed her eyes, **“It’s been a long day. Please allow yourself the rest you require.”**

“Mhm. Night SAM.”

**“Goodnight Pathfinder.”**

SAM shut down his router again as per their agreement. Kallo smiled and glanced down at Sara, “Want to move?”

“You’re warm.”

He chuckled, “Okay.” It wasn’t more than a minute before Sara had fallen into a shaky sleep; it wasn’t fixed, still nightmare riddled and light, but it was a start. A start was enough. “We’re proud of you.”


	26. Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Tempest crew takes some time together to relax after so much constant stress.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will single-handedly provide Kallo/Sara fluff to this fandom if I have to and y'ALL CAN'T STOP ME

Talking to the combination of Lexi, Kallo and Scott made the coming days much easier for Sara. While she knew it would take time, Lexi encouraged her to continue healthier methods of processing; fixing up the Nomad, checking over the Tempest and working out, with some yoga mixed in, filled in the times when the crew practically forced her to take a break. Admittedly, she was sleeping better than she had been prior. 

It was a good thing, in fact, that she was sleeping again. It made dealing with the heat of Elaaden much easier. Activating the Monoliths was a huge moment for her, the first they’d activated since Eos, the first they’d been able to fully crack since. Scott was beaming with pride as the Vault opened up, and Sara was quite literally jumping on her toes.

She brought Peebee and Jaal along, and it was a rather good thing she had. Inside the Vault was a mass of puzzles and challenge that kept the group on their toes. Just getting into the main Vault itself took two hours and a lot of brainstorming, with help from the ever faithful Suvi. It was filled with Remnant to boot, but Scott had his fun destroying the bots and clearing them a path. Having been so long since their last Vault activation none of them were quite prepared for the cleansing cloud, but they managed a safe escape with some artifacts in tow.

They stayed on Elaaden for a few days to monitor the climate’s change now that the Vault had been activated. It was a marked improvement: the temperatures were rapidly falling and moisture was filling the air again. They helped the Krogan while they were there; Drack showed them to the Flophouse, an outlaw base that they cleared out in good time. The declining temperatures meant more scavengers came out of hiding, and soon they had a lead on the Remnant Drive Core Morda was after.

As it turned out, Morda wanted the core simply to power the colony. Another Krogan from another clan was trying to frame her to blow up the Nexus; a few good headbutts put a stop to that. Then Morda gave her an ultimatum; give her the core in exchange for an Initiative outpost on Elaaden, or keep the core and make a permanent enemy of the Krogan. That was an option she hardly needed to think about; having the Krogan as an enemy would be the worst possible long-term outcome for the Initiative. No matter what she needed to ensure they didn’t offend the Krogan any more than they already had. She handed over the core, and soon Initiative ships were landing on Elaaden to start building.

 _“I’m impressed, Pathfinder.”_ Addison smiled over their holo-chat, _“Only our second outpost in Andromeda and you managed to build it on Elaaden, while making peace with the Krogan no less. It was almost a civil war, but you brought them back.”_

“Not yet.” Sara told her, “Trust must be earned. New talks need to begin and our leaders, including you, have to be open to that.”

_“Trust me Ryder, I think we’ve all had enough of this madness. Except Tann, perhaps. You know he’ll hate this.”_

Sara laughed, “Addison it is astronomically difficult to calculate how few fucks I give about Tann’s opinion. A mathematician like myself could spend a couple lifetimes on it and never get anywhere.”

Addison chuckled, _“I, of course, can’t comment.”_ She said, but Sara caught the slight change in tone that went with her snicker. _“Speaking of which, there’s someone here who’s asking to speak with you. Good luck out there Pathfinder.”_

Addison’s holo faded out for a moment before another person appeared; “Dad.”

 _“Sara, I heard about New Tuchanka.”_ Alec was smiling wide, a hopeful look on his face, the dream starting to feel real. _“I’ve already talked with Superintendent Kesh. I’ll be personally overseeing all future negotiations between the Krogan and our leaders, I’ll make sure it goes smoothly.”_

“You’re siding with a peaceful reunion, right?” She asked, “We don’t need a repeat of the Uprising.”

 _“Absolutely, peace is my top priority here.”_ He promised, nodding firmly, _“Tann’s pissed. I didn’t think a Salarian could turn that shockingly red, it was quite a show.”_

“Let smoke come out of his ears for all I care. As long as we have a peaceful, lasting resolution I’m happy.”

 _“I’m on it, don’t you worry.”_ He smiled, _“Elaaden is a great start, but we are going to need more resources. Focus on cracking the Vaults and setting up more Outposts. You have people cheering back here, you’ve given them hope; give them more to believe in.”_

“Alright. We won’t let you down.”

_“I know you wont.”_

It was a triumphant moment for the Tempest, who’s crew was assisting in some of the Outpost’s construction. In the distance they heard the roar of the giant Abyssal, but Sara wasn’t too concerned; it had never attacked anyone. People were congratulating the whole crew, seeming to know them all. Hope was rising into every eye.

“Pathfinder?” An Asari caught Sara’s attention, pulling her aside, “Kariste Archana, I’m overseeing operations here and attempts to repair relations with the Krogan.”

“Welcome to Elaaden.” Sara grinned, “Excuse the heatwave.”

“Thank you. Though it is a challenge, I promise to do everything I can to maintain relations here.”

“Is everything going smoothly?”

“Actually…” The Asari bit her lip, “I have a concern. There’s a Remnant Architect in the area, you may have seen it on your way in. If it detects us or the Krogan, it will attack. Almost lost some good scouts to that beast.”

“I’m sorry,” Sara’s brows furrowed, “a Remnant Architect?”

“Oh my, you must not have seen it. That’s what the scouts have named it, anyway. I have the coordinates of its last known location if you and your crew could destroy it before it detects our presence. We’ll defend the Outpost if we must, but I’d rather avoid a confrontation here.”

“Sure thing.” Sara gave Kariste her best calm smile, “My team and I will handle it.”

“Thank you Pathfinder.”

The navpoint wasn’t far so Sara brought her entire squad along. They weren’t too sure what they were looking for, but Sara figured if it has scared away the scouts they’d know it when they saw it.

“At least the heat is bearable now.” Liam piped up.

“Thank the spirits for that.”

“How much farther is this thing?” Peebee asked as they rounded a rock formation. Sara was looking down at her Tool.

“Should be right in front of us.” It was at that moment that Scott grabbed Sara’s arm, stopping her and the group in their tracks. She looked at him in confusion, and saw all of them staring upwards above her head, mouths gaping.

Sara turned and saw it; a huge Remnant was flying in the sky above some ruins, bigger than anything she’d ever seen. A tiny noise escaped Sara, a shocked and disbelieving squeak; Liam was standing beside her gasping, snapping a few pictures.

“Ha-Ha-HA!” Drack shouted suddenly, startling all of them, “Now THAT’S a real fight!”

“Okay…” Cora ran her fingers through her hair, “Got a plan for us Pathfinder?”

“Uh…”

“See any weaknesses?”

Liam’s eyes blew even wider, “Guys… that thing is coming right for us.”

And indeed it was, having seen them on the ground it was coming in to land, taking up position among the ruins. “My god…” Sara muttered, taking in the moment. Then she snapped herself out of it and stood a little straighter.

“ _Please_ tell me we’re fighting that thing.”

“Hell yes we’re fighting that thing.” Sara nodded, “Alright here’s the plan: I’m going to climb up this formation with my sniper rifle and get the high ground, I’ll call out the weak points I can see. Hit them in unison until we figure out exactly how to strike it down. Wear it down, good ol’ fashion way.”

“It’s as good a plan as any.” Scott nodded, grinning over at her, “Need a boost?”

Sara accepted with a laugh; Scott threw her upward with his biotics, and her jump jet got her the rest of the way as the rest charged at the Architect. It reacted immediately, roaring and throwing out energy attacks that ate through their shields. Sara sniped smaller Remnant the Architect was summoning while scanning it for weak points. The crew shot all over trying to find something; then, Sara spotted it.

One of Jaal’s shots landed on the Architect’s leg, between its metal plating; it was glowing red with energy there, the plating open as it was standing there for easier maneuverability, with sparks emanating from where Jaal’s shot had landed.

“The right leg!” She yelled into her com, “Focus the right leg!” Her crew immediately responded, focusing between the plating; the Architect closed the plating only after realizing damage had been done, bending low and opening up the plating on its head to fire out stronger attacks and grenades. “Now the head, it’s open!”

The group continued that cycle, targeting the legs when they opened, then targeting the head when it got mad. It was a rhythm they all quickly got used to, attacking over and over. They were tired yet invigorated; the Architect was certainly a challenge.

Finally, there was explosions in its head, a huge power surge that caused it to fall. Sara could see the head a ways away, and saw Glyphs appearing at its head; inside its head where she couldn’t see it before was a panel, one that looked very similar to those she’d interfaced with before.

Sara had to get over there as quickly as possible.

She looked down, being quite a ways up; Cora had dodged back to avoid a cluster of grenades, almost directly underneath Sara’s position. “Cora!” Her second looked up in confusion and concern as Sara stood on the edge, “Throw me at it!”

“You sure?!”

“Trust me!”

Sara threw herself off the cliff, trusting in Cora’s ability. Cora caught Sara in a Singularity, then used her biotics to quite literally throw Sara toward the Architect. She was rather grateful for her prior experience in knowing how to both fall and land safely; she used her jet pack to slow herself down and landed with a roll, jumping up and running without stopping in between. She went to the panel and quickly interfaced with it. The Architect began to move again, and Sara used her jet pack to jump back and away.

She thought it had failed, but instead the Architect rose up, still sparking, into the atmosphere and completely out of sight. It was over.

Everyone was exhausted, but there was a giddiness that began to spread from the sheer amazement of what they’d fought. Much of the crew, especially Drack, started laughing and leaning into one another to calm from the fight. 

_“What in the world was roaring over the coms?”_ Suvi’s voice broke in over their Tools, _“Is everyone alright?”_

“We’re fine, Suvi.” Sara promised. 

Liam jumped in, “Boy do I have some footage to show you guys!”

“You did not film the fight.” Liam’s shit-eating grin said more than enough.

-

It was as the Tempest was floating in space trying to figure out their next move when Liam pulled Sara up to the meeting room to speak to her privately.

“I got an idea you’re going to love.”

“And that is?”

“Well it’s been stressful, right? On all of us.” He told her, “Hard out here, being the only ones trying to fix things. There was a two hour argument the other day, no one knew how it started.”

“I can understand.” Sara sighed, “I’m feeling it too.”

“Yeah well, I got the perfect idea to help the crew unwind. Get out of the Tempest a little, spend time in the quiet. I’ve been talking to Suvi and Kallo, there are areas of Eos free of Kett activity. Nothing for miles in all directions, no resources or water out there I guess. I got Vetra in on it to get some supplies, Drack can barbecue, we can make a bonfire out there. Play some music, cook dinner over an open fire under the stars with no one else around. I’ve even got a little surprise for everyone. Think you can take us there Pathfinder?”

Sara had a growing smile on her face as Liam explained his idea. It sounded like the relaxing night everybody needed, including herself. “Consider it done Kosta. Good idea.”

“Yes!” He jumped, starting to quickly head off but turning quickly as he walked backwards, “You’re not going to regret this!” Sara laughed as he quite literally ran down the ramp.

“I’m sure I wont.”

Sara went to the Bridge and directed the Tempest to Eos. She worked with Kallo and Suvi to find a suitable location; they eventually found a flatlands dotted with rock formations and sparse wildlife, with no Kett within a hundred mile radius in all directions. Kallo set the ship down as the sun was nearly about to set, red and orange streaking across the sky. In the time it took them to find the location Liam had gone to everyone in the crew to gather up music they’d brought with them or enjoyed, little pieces of the Milky Way and their homeworlds. He shuffled the playlist and set up a little speaker to play music as the crew got to work building up a fire pit, moving Liam’s old couch and some other seats outside with a cheap fold-out table. Kallo powered down the Tempest enough to ensure no lights were emanating from it, so as the sun was setting they could begin to see the stars.

As they got the fire going and Drack was setting up to cook, Liam showed footage of the fight with the Architect to Lexi, Kallo, Suvi and Gil. The four were piled onto the couch with some of the others behind them watching the fight over Liam’s Tool. Sara could see Lexi glaring at her and couldn’t help but shiver and grin apologetically. 

“That thing’s huge!” Suvi exclaimed as they watched. Sara could see them begin to laugh when they saw Sara flying towards the Architect, Sara was surprised he’d caught that moment.

“Is that really Sara?”

“Calm down there Wonder Woman.” Gil teased.

“I don’t know, being launched through the air was quite fun actually.” She grinned. Scott glanced as he walked by and laughed, shaking his head at her.

One of Scott’s songs started playing as he’d gone into the Tempest to get more supplies for Drack. It was a song they’d both danced too a lot as teens when they practiced Swing Dancing. Scott came out of the Tempest and recognized it, grinning wide. He handed Drack the supplies and swept up Sara to dance with him. Neither paid any mind to the fact that some of the crew were watching, it had been years since they’d danced together and, judging by their coordination, they still had it in them. Swing had always been their favorite. They both laughed and enjoyed the simple moment to return to the one thing they’d always consistently done as a unit.

“I didn’t know you two could dance.” Cora laughed as she watched them. Jaal had a big grin on his face, seeming to enjoy the sight.

“It looks quite fun. Very different from Angaran dance!” He told them. Sara smiled over at them for a split second.

“We’ve always danced!” She laughed as Scott spun her around, “We grew up dancing!”

“Took our first class together when we were four years old, never stopped since.”

“Which one of you is older?” Liam asked as the song ended. They ended on a dip, prompting several members of the crew to applaud for them.

“Liam,” Sara smirked, “you will never know the answer to that question.”

“Damn it.”

Scott went back to help Drack and Sara went to join the bulk of the group, “Been a long time since I danced, thank you my dearest brother.”

“You’re welcome my dearest sister.”

“That’s not the only thing you two can do.” Kallo smiled.

“That’s right, you saw the pictures.” 

“I did!”

“Pictures?” Peebee asked with a smirk, “Define ‘pictures’.” She laughed when Sara shoved her.

“Not what you’re thinking Peebs.” 

Scott gasped, “Oh! I do have pictures though!” He left Drack to cook and plopped down on the couch.

“You actually have pictures on you?” Sara asked him.

“You bet your ass I do!”

“Ah geez.”

Much of the crew gathered around Scott to see these pictures. Sara shook her head and went to help Drack with the cooking in Scott’s place.

“Aww!” Suvi cooed, “You two are adorable!” 

“Sara and I joined a Ballroom dance competition when we were fourteen. Won third place.” He explained the picture.

“So formal!”

“That was a fun competition.” As Sara recalled.

“And check this out!” Scott switched to an image of Sara Figure Skating. “She won a gold medal for this routine. How old were you sis, eighteen?”

“Sounds about right.”

“You look gorgeous on the ice Sara!”

“Thank you!”

“Your people slide around on ice for prizes?” Jaal asked, tilting his head in confusion. “It looks very unsafe.”

“It’s called Figure Skating. Dancing on ice with special shoes. It’s a human sport, takes a lot of training.”

“I had no idea you two were so into dancing.” Vetra commented on her way by, “Learn something new everyday.”

“Everyone needs a hobby.” Sara shrugged.

Drack cooked them up a truly good meal after so long of of plain provisions. They all sat around the fire and ate together, telling stories and reminiscing fondly of the Milky Way. Jaal taught them a few Angaran words and answered questions about various planets. Sara answered a few questions regarding her education, and Scott and Liam swapped stories of their time in the military and HUSTL respectively. Everyone took some time to get to know SAM beyond him being an AI. Cora talked about her time as a Huntress, Vetra and Drack told of their misadventures in pirating and parenting. It was a good night all around, time when they just got to relax and, in many ways, get to know one another better than they had previously.

They finished dinner as all the stars had come out, spreading above them in a beautiful array. Then Liam brought out his surprise; smores and hot chocolate, both Dextro and Levo, for everyone to enjoy. The humans taught their alien comrades how to make their smores, making a mess in the process. It was a wonderful break from normal, and delicious to boot. 

“--So I grabbed my gun and shot the fuel tank, killed all ten mercenaries in two seconds!” Drack laughed; the group had turned to sharing stories on how they’d received visible scars, “Shrapnel dug into my arm here, didn’t notice it for about a week until Kesh pointed it out. Makes for a great story now!”

“You reckless bastard.” Liam laughed, “Alright, your turn Sara. You got those scars on your face, where’d those come from?”

Sara froze for a moment, chewing slightly slower on her bite of her smore. She glanced at Kallo and he glanced at her. He had that look on his face, reliving memories, and she saw him shrug ever so slightly. It was up to her if she wanted to tell the story. No one seemed to notice their split second, silent conversation.

“I… don’t remember how I got it.” She shrugged. The rest took the hint immediately, it wasn’t a story she was willing to share, so they moved on to Scott’s tale of how he got a scar during his military training.

They spent a lot of time out there, even as the fire began to die down and it was getting very late. It was nice for all of them to take the chance to simply know one another, to not have to worry about the rest of the Cluster. For that brief moment in time nothing else mattered, and they were at peace.

One by one the crew went to get some sleep or finish up those last few reports that were bugging them. Everyone had something, the night had to end eventually, and as it got later it got so much quieter. Soon enough Sara was the only one left outside, the fire had been completely snuffed out and the furniture moved back into the Tempest. Sara took the time to herself, moving a short distance from the Tempest to the nearby rock formation. She climbed up about five feet or so to a flat rock, where she could rest against the formation and stare up into the sky. There was no light pollution, no air pollution, no clouds, nothing to obstruct the view of the universe above her. The stars were so foreign yet so familiar. She allowed herself the time to think, to remain peaceful, knowing it wouldn’t last forever. It reminded her of their trips to Earth, when her father had taken her and Scott out into the middle of the Arizona desert to gaze into the stars and name their very own constellations. She wasn’t even concerned with how much time had passed, simply stared upward in thought.

“Sara?” Sara blinked out of her transfixtion at his voice. She peered over the ledge; Kallo was standing below her spot, looking at her with amusement and curiosity, “Is there room up there?”

“Yeah, climb on up. This side’s easiest.” She moved over to make room as Kallo climbed the few feet to join her. He made himself comfortable and took her hand, much to her approval; it was becoming normal, a subconscious reflex to be connected to one another. Sure the crew had noticed but neither of them really cared, just the touch of each other’s skin was enough to calm them both.

“Something on your mind?” He asked her, “Figured you’d have passed out by now.”

Sara shook her head, “Nothing in particular. Just enjoying the peace.” She smiled, looking back up into the stars, “You know I was just sitting here thinking and, I don’t know I just remembered something from a long time ago. A dream, really.”

“What was it?”

“Hmm.” She shifted her position, leaned a little bit into Kallo’s side; he didn’t mind one bit, “Back when I was ten I was stuck in a hospital on the Citadel. I’d been there a year and a half already, it was dreadfully boring with terrible white walls and beeping machines. There was only this little window, a tiny glimpse into the outside world. I had been so sheltered before as they tried to control my illness that I didn’t really understand what ‘outside’ meant. Then I saw these ships flying outside the window headed towards the Presidium for some event, military ships of all kinds from all the races. I so desperately wanted to see them, so Scott helped me pull on my fluffy socks and grabbed my air-mask and stood me up out of my bed. I hadn’t stood on my own for months before that moment, I had been too weak, so it was… pretty jarring.” Kallo didn’t comment, simply listened to her story as she continued, “He walked me out of the room, there were these big windows across the hallway. For the first time in months I walked with my own strength, limped myself right up to that window and watched as those ships flew among the fireworks. After that I started having this dream that one day I’d build my own little ship, I’d take Scott and I’d explore the Galaxy. I’d go places where hospitals didn’t exist and I didn’t have to take those medications, you know as a ten year old would imagine. I wanted to see things no one else had seen before. Then, after a lot of physical therapy I became strong enough to go to school, I started working mathematics and engineering and I… forgot that dream. Must have figured it was too frivolous.” She smiled, “And I just now remembered it, and I realize… that’s what we’re doing right now. This very moment. I’m living out a dream I forgot I’d had, and doing it in a way that means something.”

Kallo smiled for her, “You deserve that.” He told her, wrapping an arm around her. “You deserve more than that, really.”

“Funny how it all came together without me even realizing it.”

“Seems to me like you were meant for this. To be the first.”

“Maybe.” She shrugged lightly, “I’m just glad it means something.”

The two were silent for a little while, a calm silence simply to allow themselves the moment. It was so peaceful and natural and fitting that Sara closed her eyes and simply breathed.

“Are you feeling better?” Kallo asked her after a while, quietly as if his voice would disturb the silence around them.

“I am.” She told him, “I’m sleeping again, a little. And you?”

“Finally feels like things are going to work out here, with that new shiny Outpost of yours.”

“It was a team effort. We still have a long way to go.”

“But now we know that Eos wasn’t isolated. That’ll go a long way, you’ll see.”

“I hope so.” She glanced to him, “I do want you to know one thing, Kal. Lexi’s been pushing really hard for me to deal with these thoughts and emotions in healthy ways. PTSD, so she says. It’s not something I’m used to, my parents… they drilled it into our heads, your problems remain your problems and not others. But I’m going to try.” She smiled, “I’m going to try and keep dealing with this. I cant promise it’ll go smoothly, but I’m going to do my best to learn and get better at handling the stress and intensity, so… I don’t want you to worry so much just for my sake.” 

“Good.” Kallo smiled and brought his hand to her face, rather gentle and intimate. It reminded her of Aya; when then he’d been too afraid to even touch her, he did this time. His hand was warm against her cheek and endlessly comforting. It was easy for her to look him in the eye without embarrassment since then. “But you should know me better than that. I’m always going to worry.”

Sara grinned at him, so open and sincere, “Fine, then that gives me leave to worry for you too.”

“Deal.” He chuckled. Kallo ran his thumb over her scar for a moment, seeming to focus on it. Of course it was a reminder of how easily and quickly one could lose everything they’d ever cared about; how close had he come to losing her on the Citadel? Too close in his mind. It was hard to even imagine that, who he’d be without her. He’d never be able to look at her scar without that knowledge, without the memories, but it also prompted something else; a boost of courage, confidence he hadn’t had before, a deep desire to be clear in how he felt just in case something happened. In that split second of bravery Kallo leaned forward; her breath hitched as Kallo pressed his lips to her forehead, slowly and carefully, almost like he feared she’d shatter. Sara froze, not entirely sure what she should do. A few seconds went by before she melted, closed her eyes and took in the passion that they shared, something so unique and personal to them, placing her hand over his and simply taking in the moment. There was a word for this.

Kallo then pressed his forehead into hers, looking her in the eye as she did to him, seeing her soft smile and feeling so warm. “My people don’t have a word for this.” He muttered, “So I hope that gets the message across.”

Sara let out a breath, slow as she blushed, more contented than she had been in years, “I think that’s absolutely perfect.”


	27. Leusinia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Tempest crew finally finds the Asari Ark, Ark Leusinia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry my updates have been slightly slower lately, things are busy! I'll try to update a little more often when I can. =)

The search for Ark Leusinia was much more complicated than Sara had anticipated. But the complexity gave leave for Sara and SAM to work together on figuring it out, a practice that was strangely bonding for both of them.

They’d found Leusinia’s scout ship Periphona shot down on Voeld. They’d found evidence of ‘The Decimation’, what they assumed were elite Kett hunters, but no sign of the Leusinia itself. The flight recorder mentioned the Periphona was trying to draw them off, and they had failed.

Retracing the Periphona’s steps from the wreckage was a daunting task. The flight recorder had been damaged and much of their navigational charting was scrambled. It took everything Sara knew to reconstruct the broken bits and calculate out what was missing in between. But challenge was what she lived for, and SAM seemed to be enjoying working through it like a puzzle just as she was. It was good for both of them to find a way to work together; it very much involved partitioning the work so both of them had a task, tasks that were not the same but complimented what the other was doing. SAM also made it a point to use their private channel as little as possible, a fact that Sara deeply appreciated. 

**“Perhaps if we run this sequence through a pairing search of our own charts?"**

“Maybe…” Sara hummed, “Go ahead and try, but with the Scourge movement—”

**“Our charts are not up to date, correct. I am searching for a baseline.”**

“Go for it, I’ll calculate the distances.”

“Pathfinder?” Sara looked up to find Cora standing in the doorway holding a data pad, “Here’s the access codes you wanted.”

“Yes! Thanks Cora.” Sara took the datapad and moved over so Cora could sit. She was hesitant to do so, “This will help immeasurably.” She glanced to Cora, “You’re so tense. C’mon, sit. We’ll find the Leusinia.”

Cora sat down beside her with a heavy sigh, “I know we will, I just…” She shook her head, “What are you doing, exactly?”

“Recalculating the missing chunks of navigational data while SAM compares with our charts and manually adjusts for Scourge movement.” Sara smiled calmly for her, pointing at specific equations. “For these missing sections we have data on where they were and where they ended up, so we can make a basic reconstruction of the space in between. It’s not perfect but it gives us a direction.”

“I’m surprised.” Cora told her, “SAM could do all of this.”

“That’s true, but we’re learning to work together. I didn’t come here to waste my own skills. These are simple conversions.”

“Simple?”

“Oh yes, very simple.”

“… I’ll take your word for it.”

Cora stayed for awhile before returning to her reports, leaving Sara and SAM to finish putting the pieces together. It took hours before they had a heading, but eventually SAM was able to get specific coordinates out of the data.

 _“The hell you did!”_ Sara heard Gil nearly shouting over the coms as she walked onto the Bridge. She hung back to listen where Kallo couldn’t see her. _“You can’t just undo ten hours of work!”_

“Your ‘revamp’ risked power imbalance between decks. That’s something we solved back home.”

_“It’s twice as efficient! Just because it doesn’t match your sainted specs—”_

“And now, mysteriously, it does.” Kallo’s voice was tight. “Unfortunately for you Gil, I wasn’t the one who fixed your mistake.”

_“‘Mistake’ my ass. Who fixed it if you didn’t?”_

“I did.” Sara stepped in. Kallo had known, of course he had, and he wasn’t happy about the conversation. “You forget I built this ship too. You’re right, it is twice as efficient; on a ship with a normal drive core that is. The ODSY is far from normal and by my calculations, ones I reran just last night, continued power imbalance between the decks risks building drive core imbalance. The core blowing us up in transit won’t help anyone. Check your calculations next time Gil.”

Gil sounded irritated as he cut off the conversation. Kallo sighed heavily and pushed his head into his hands just briefly. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to add to your workload.” He said.

“Not your fault. It was easy really.” Sara shrugged, “I remember running those calculations when the Tempest didn’t even have plating yet. I’m glad I caught it.” She handed Kallo a datapad, “These are the coordinates we managed to pull from Periphona’s navigational charts. I need it pinpointed on our charts.”

Kallo inputted it and coordinated with their charts while Sara went up to navigation. Their charts came up holographically, the coordinates location showing as a red dot. “We haven’t actually charted the systems in that area yet.” Kallo told her, “Just preliminary scans.”

“Lets go. Carefully. We need to know what’s out there.” Sara hummed in thought as the Tempest entered hyperspace, “Let me know when we’re close.”

Sara marched towards the meeting room, stopping briefly outside the biolab, “Cora we’re on our way to the coordinates.”

“Thanks!”

Sara went up to the meeting room and immediately called Avitus. She was more than a little concerned. Avitus was quick to answer her call, _“Pathfinder.”_

 _“Hey Sara!”_ She heard Macen shout from somewhere in the background. It made Sara laugh to hear the contrast in their voices.

“Hi! Hope I’m not interrupting anything?” 

_“Not at all.”_ Macen came into view beside Avitus, _“I just brought back some stasis pods out of Voeld.”_

 _“Something wrong Pathfinder?”_ Macen asked her.

“I think so.” She sighed, “We have a promising lead on Ark Leusinia. We’re headed to the coordinates now, we’re not sure what’s there yet but I believe it might be the Ark itself. Problem is we’ve gathered evidence that elite Kett hunters, The Decimation, have been hunting the Leusinia down. If that’s the case I don’t like the odds of my small squad on such a large Ark. If the hunters caught up with them…”

Avitus nodded firmly, _“I see your point. Send me the coordinates, I’ll catch up with you. It’s time we brought the Leusinia home.”_

“Thanks Avitus.”

It was a bit of a crawl to get anywhere; the Scourge was heavy in the area and Kallo was being cautious. Sara, Scott, Cora and Liam all suited up just in case, and soon Sara was back on the Bridge.

“We’re approaching the nav points.” Kallo reported, “Something’s on our sensors. It might be an Ark but the damn Scourge isn’t helping.”

“SAM, help out with sensors.”

Cora came up to Sara’s side, too restless to wait in the cargo bay. She looked out on the Scourge with worry, “Hard to believe the Leusinia could survive in all this.”

Sara pat her shoulder, “We found Natanus. We can help the Leusinia too.”

“Hmm. Help Asari and piss off the Kett, very cathartic.” Her lips were pressed tight, “Sarissa will have plans for those Decimation hunters. Wrote the manual on crisis situations. She’s a legend, she’ll know what to do.”

“Then you have nothing to worry about.” Sara smiled, doing her best to be comforting.

“Aha! Detecting an Initiative vessel.” Kallo told them. Soon enough they could see the Leusinia out the window, floating amongst the Scourge.

“Can we get a message to Avitus?” Sara asked.

“Negative Pathfinder.” Suvi told her, “Too much Scourge activity.”

“I want to know the moment they’re in range.”

Cora was reading over the data their scanners were collecting, “Reading life signs, minimal power, multiple hull breaches… she’s a wreck.”

“But she’s still in tact, and there’s people on board. That’s more than what we had ten minutes ago. Take us in Kal.”

“I’ll try.” He said, “Must be one docking bay still holding together.”

-

The Leusinia really was a wreck. They’d been boarded by Kett and damaged by the Scourge, yet it was so silent it was damn eerie to all of them. They found the famed Sarissa Theris on the Bridge with captain Atandra. _Pathfinder_ Sarissa Theris. That came as a surprise, filling Sara with deep sadness; “Matriarch Ishara died trying to negotiate with the Kett.” The captain explained, “Sarissa was next in line.”

“Why have the Kett been hunting you for this long? That’s not their MO.”

“I stole a module containing tactical data after Ishara died. It contains all their secret routes through this phenomenon.” Sarissa shook her head sadly.

“The Archon sent his elite agent, the Valiant, and his Decimations hunters after us. We take more damage each time we escape. Their last assault brought boarders, and they’re still here. Sarissa’s theft has made things… problematic. The Valiant wants Sarissa to pay.”

“I’m not here to point fingers.” Sara told them, “Just to bring the Ark back to the Nexus. But we can’t do that until these Kett are cleared off the Leusinia.”

“An FTL burn long enough to lose them would do the trick, but since the evacuation we’ve been stuck at minimal power. Drive core’s dead and the area is crawling with the Kett we trapped.”

“I sent a team down to the lower levels. My SAM and I can finish deciphering the Kett data until we figure out what’s draining our systems.”

“Piece of cake.” Sara nodded, “We’ll back up your people.”

There was only one working tram but Atandra managed to give them access. _“Pathfinder, I’ve got Avitus.”_ Suvi reported over the coms.

“Patch him through.” There was some static, but nothing too worrisome. “Avitus? Can you hear me?”

_“Loud and clear Pathfinder. We’re on our way to your coordinates but the Scourge is scrambling all our sensors.”_

“The Leusinia is here.” She reported, “It’s heavily damaged and there are Kett on board. We’re on our way to clear them out of the lower levels, dock carefully. A lot of this ship is barely holding together.”

_“Will do.”_

Cora sighed heavily, scrubbing at her eyes as the tram moved slower than those on the Hyperion. “What a mess.” She muttered.

“It’ll be okay Cora.”

“Will it?” She asked, “Matriarch Ishara is dead. How many colonists went with her?” Cora shook her head, “We roll the dice, but…”

“We win some and we lose some, that’s not your fault. The best thing you can do for them is to calm down.” Sara placed her hands on Cora’s shoulders, forcing her second to look her in the eye, “Breathe, purpose, action. Right?”

Cora stared at her for a few long seconds, “You read the manuals?” She asked in amazement.

“I asked for them, didn’t I?” Sara chuckled, “We’re going to find those commandos. We can do this.”

Cora took a deep breath, “Right. You’re right.” The tram stopped, they’d gotten as far as they could with it. “Lets go.”

They found Vederia Damali, Sarissa’s second in command. A bright young Asari, skilled but new to the role. She directed them to close the hangar bay doors and tracked down the main source of power drain. Sara’s first priority, however, was jump starting the fire-suppression system. Sara would readily admit that Cora was doing well calming Vederia over the coms. Cora was one who’d make a great Pathfinder, given the right motivation.

There were more Kett on board than Sara had anticipated. Halls and rooms darkened and ruined in the rush to escape, fires and destruction wherever they went. It was hard to imagine all the lives that had once been there. How many of them were still alive?

 _“Pathfinder?”_ Sara’s Tool activated with the incoming transmission.

“Macen?” She asked in surprised, “You’re on board the Ark?”

 _“You bet your ass I’m here! You think I’d miss this?”_ He laughed, _“We’ve docked on the lower levels. There’s a lot of Kett but we’re moving forward. We’ve got you on our sensors but there’s so much debris we can’t find a way to you yet.”_

“Go slowly.” Sara warned, “There’s a lot of fires. There’s an Asari commando near your location, Vederia Damali, she’s checking over the remaining stasis pods; Kett were trying to mess with them. I’m on my way to repair the fire suppression systems.”

_“We’ll clear out the last few cryo bays then rendezvous with you.”_

“Good luck down there.”

They could hear distant gunfire through nearby air vents and knew the Turians were still moving. “Not a single lazy bone in their bodies is there?” Scott chuckled. “Turians after my own heart.”

“Lets not let them beat us to Engineering.”

Repairing fire suppression was a simple matter. In the meantime Vederia had managed to track down the true source of the power drain. On their way Sara shut down nonessential systems locally to assist the drive core’s response time. That was when SAM found a data cache, it being freed as enough power was being restored.

**“Part of this cache is a succession log from Matriarch Ishara.”**

“Can you play it back?”

_“Forget the data Sarissa, I need you! The barrier’s collapsing!”_

_“They’ll tear the Ark apart. I… that data is the only thing that might buy us time.”_

_“You don’t know that! There’s reinforcements incoming, my SAM can’t— Tiamna, **please**!”_

_“I have to save them! Even if I can’t save— Forgive me.”_

“Ah shit.” Liam muttered, shaking his head. Cora turned her back during the logs and tried to make sense of it, tried to contemplate what they’d just heard. 

“‘Tiamna’ used to mean ‘guardian of temples’. A champion who stayed faithful even when all was lost.” Cora muttered sadly, sounding both heartbroken and lost at the same time. Her hero, her idol Sarissa, had left Ishara to die. Cora turned to Sara with such sadness; she could understand why.

“A team, a guardian— they’re no good if they leave their Pathfinder behind.” Scott sighed.

“After everything she wrote on duty, sacrifice…” Cora pushed her head into her hands, “Damn it all, Sara… what do I do? Tell me what to do.”

“What we do is find this power drain.” Sara told her with all the confidence she could muster, “We still have an Ark to save. We’ll figure out the rest once we’re safe, alright? Focus.”

“Right. Focus. Breathe.” Cora did breathe, taking a moment to do so, closing her eyes. “I can do this.”

“Good. Lets get to these nav points.”

Vederia’s coordinates led them to a large observation deck; the source was a device that was creating a mass effect field around a nearby deck to keep it together, where plating had been sheered away. Between them and would-be escape pods.

“A genius built this.” Sara breathed in amazement, “It’s crude but effective. Probably saved a lot of lives, keeping the hull together to get people to stasis pods.”

“I pray she got out safe.”

“We need to turn this thing off.”

**“The device requires two people for shutdown— one disconnecting the cables and another at the device itself.”**

“I’ll handle the device.” Vederia nodded. 

“And I’ve got the cables.”

**“Caution: one begun, the fail-safe cycle must be completed or the device will fuse.”**

“Alright. Ready Vederia?”

“Ready!”

Disconnecting the first cable sparked an unforeseen effect; the influx of power alerted the Kett on board. Sara knew they weren’t dumb enough to let this slide, and sure enough they were soon being swarmed by Kett as they tried to reach the second cable. “Vederia, protect the device! Use biotics, whatever it takes!”

“But—”

“We need you Vederia!” Cora told her, “You can do this!”

“Macen we need more firepower here!” Sara shouted into her coms.

_“We’re running, just hang on Pathfinder!”_

They hid behind the plants and the staircase trying to fend off the Kett and make it to the second cable. There were a lot of Kett flooding in from all doors and from the vents above them, every Kett that had come aboard was rushing them trying to stall them long enough for The Valiant’s ship to arrive.

“Above us!”

“That’s where the cable is! Fight your way up!”

“Watch the Destined, it’s cloaked!”

**“Pathfinder, I am detecting an explosive charge on the door directly above you. Take cover.”**

“Everybody down!” Sara jumped into cover just as the door exploded, having barely covered in time. “SAM, next time just tell me to duck!”

“What was that?!” Scott yelled, coming right back out of cover to continue shooting. Sara glanced up to the door on the second floor; out of the smoke came two large figures with guns, shooting at the Kett closest to them. 

“Special delivery for Kett assholes!” Sara heard Macen laughing as both he and Avitus rushed through the doorway, directly into cover to shoot at the Kett. Their timing was almost too perfect.

“Avitus!” Sara yelled, “The cable behind you! Disconnect it quickly or the device will fuse!”

Avitus followed her instructions to the letter to disconnect it safely. Then they both came to join Sara as they fought towards the last cable.

“Glad you saved some for us!” Macen seemed rather glad to be off the Nexus for a change; despite loving the work he did it was always good to get out of the house, as it were.

“Where’s the rest of your team?”

“They’re finishing clearing out cryo. Those Kett were very interested in the stasis pods, we ran on ahead.”

“Then this is the Kett’s last stand. Get me to that cable!”

It was interesting to watch Macen and Avitus fight together; Avitus was aggressive but also calculated, and often times enemies he slowed Macen finished off. They were in total sync, having no need to discuss a plan, as if they had it all figured out already. She could appreciate that.

It felt like an eternity, but eventually they cleared out the Kett and disconnected the final cable. The device shut down and there were no longer any Kett shooting at them. Seemed it was over.

“It’s off!” Vederia grinned, “You did it! Thanks the goddess.”

They watched as the plating surrounding the next deck floated away from the Ark and into space. “So… that was supposed to happen, right?” Liam asked.

“Yes it was. No mass effect field means there’s nothing to hold the plating in place.” Sara smiled calmly, connecting up to the Bridge. “Captain? You should have power now.”

 _“The drive core’s coming online.”_ Atandra confirmed with an audible smile, _“A few minutes and we’re out of here.”_

“We can still go into FTL with, oh I don’t know, a big hull breach on one of the main observation decks. Right?”

 _“Uh…”_ Atandra muttered a curse under their breath, _“The maneuver I’ve planned should hold us together. If the FTL burn doesn’t— we’ll just have to cope.”_

_“Sarissa here. Superb work, all of you. We’re almost home thanks to your efforts.”_

Sara breathed out a sigh. “I’m glad to see the Turian Ark made it as well.” Vederia grinned and shook both Macen and Avitus’ hands. “Thank you, all of you. We’re really going to make it.”

“That’s very much thanks to you Vederia. Well done.” Sara smiled, “Not bad for your first mission.”

“Sarissa should be proud. You’ll be one hell of a commando.”

“You’d know, Lieutenant. Thank you.” 

It was in that moment that alarms began going off, flashing lights all around them. It was startling to say the least. _“Ah shit! The Kett hunters blindsided us!”_ Atandra informed them over coms. They looked outside the window just as a huge Kett dreadnought came out of FTL. _“They have a drop ship headed for the breach on Deck Twelve.”_

“We’ll handle it. How long until we have FTL?”

_“Too long. Sarissa’s on her way to help.”_

“Alright. Helmets on people, we’re going out there.”

Fighting with the hull breach was an interesting and unique experience. Noise was so reduced all she could clearly hear was her squad over the coms. The rest was muffled as the lower gravity made smaller objects float all around them. The Kett had no problem in vacuum; they could survive in such conditions for short amounts of time. They had a lot of targets to shoot at.

Eventually The Valiant himself came aboard in an attempt to stop them. He was surprisingly stealthy and snuck up on Sara when she was preoccupied with a Wraith. It was sheer dumb luck that she heard him in time before he’d have had the chance to throw her out of the hull breach.

Sara was caught in hand-to-hand combat, her omni-blade against The Valiant’s sword. He was skilled and taller than she was, but her own strength was nothing to sneeze at; she blocked him blow for blow attempting to find a weakness somewhere in his armor or stance, managing to hold him off but not quite having the skill to gain the upper hand.

“Hand over the thief!” He growled, continually striking at her.

“Go fuck yourself!”

“Allow me to escort him out!” It was Scott who ran up to them, and by using his biotics he punched The Valiant out of the breach and into open space, far away from the Leusinia.

“You two are like the comedic relief in a bad vid!” Liam laughed from nearby, setting off a wave of laughter even as they were all fighting.

It wasn’t much longer before the Kett stopped coming, and instead the Dreadnought was turning their main guns towards the Leusinia. Sarissa showed up not a moment too soon, rushing in front of the group. “Incoming fire!” The Drednought began launching rockets towards the Leusinia in a massive barrage. The group ran to take cover, all except for Sarissa. “Like the Battle of Kerkis… There’s still a chance!”

Sarissa began to use her biotics to create a barrier. It wasn’t nearly large enough but she was trying. Cora glanced to Sara, searching for direction. “You can do this!” Sara encouraged her, and that was all it took. Cora rushed forward to assist Sarissa in creating a larger barrier. Not a moment later Scott and Vederia ran in to add in their own biotic strength. Cora fell to her knee trying so hard to help. Soon the barrier was strong enough to withstand the onslaught; the rockets deflected off of the field and back into the Dreadnought with huge and silent explosions.

Sarissa helped Cora back onto her feet. The four were exhausted but had withstood the onslaught. “Captain, get us out of here!” Sara yelled into the coms, knowing the Dreadnought was too close for them to withstand it’s full destruction; the shock wave would do massive damage.

 _“Punching it, hold on!”_ They got through the door just as the Leusinia went into FTL; it was silent. It was over.

Heavy sighs circulated among the group as they nearly collapsed into the walls. “Holy shit. Did we really just do that?” Liam asked breathlessly.

“Yeah we did!” Macen laughed and threw his arm around Sara’s shoulders, “That’s two Arks under your belt Pathfinder, you’ll put the rest of us out of a job at this rate.”

“Ha!” Sara snorted, “Who else would babysit the Nexus when I’m gone if not you? Someone has to keep an eye on Tann.”

“I suppose we could always recruit that friend of yours, Del.”

“You didn’t recommend my father? Shocking.”

Macen laughed again, “Alec is a friend, I never said he wasn’t a hardass who needs to pull that stick out of his ass.”

Sarissa chuckled light and interrupted their conversation, “Please come join us on the Bridge, I think Atandra would like to say their thanks in person.”

-

Sarissa’s team reunited on the Bridge, chatting and laughing in their glee. Sara could imagine how great they must have felt knowing that soon they’d be completely safe. “A skeleton crew, but enough to patch up the Ark.” Cora nodded firmly.

“We’re going to stay here and help the Asari with critical repairs, ensure they reach the Nexus.” Macen told them, “And you?”

“Wish I could Macen.” Sara shrugged, “But there’s still a Cluster out there. Kadara, Elaaden, Eos, Voeld…”

“I see your point.” Macen pat her shoulder, “Stay safe out there, all of you.”

Macen left them there on the Bridge while Cora seemed to have trouble watching the group, shaking her head sadly. “Whatever this all cost…”

“Cora, you need to talk to Sarissa.” Sara put a comforting hand on Cora’s shoulder, trying to reassure her. “You know you need to, for your own sanity if nothing else.”

Whatever Cora was going to say was cut off as Sarissa approached them. “I wanted to thank you both. That was exemplary work. I’m proud to—”

“Ma’am.” Cora interrupted her with a scowl on her face, “Sarissa. We know about Ishara.”

“The log survived?” There was a gravity to Sarissa’s face, a weight resurfacing; she was afraid, very afraid. “Then… her final moments won’t be lost.”

“Her final— You deserted your Pathfinder! You should be better than—” Cora might as well have been smoking out the ears, she was furious, more so than Sara had ever seen. 

“I chose protecting all these people over a single life! The choice they train us to make, _Lieutenant_.”

“But you didn’t tell anyone.” Sara glared, “We all have choices Sarissa. You chose to keep the circumstances a secret instead of trusting your own team.”

“Because then you wouldn’t be their shining hero.” Cora finished, “And maybe that’s how it should be.”

“Being a Pathfinder means giving them hope. You know this Ryder, don’t you?”

“Hope is one thing.” Sara told her, “Honor, trust, humility, respect? That’s another. If I made such a damaging mistake in the line of duty my team, my _second_ , would know about it. If not to fix it then to at least minimize the damage.” She sighed, “I don’t agree with your decision to steal that data anyway. You should have let Ishara make that decision. She was your Pathfinder for a damn reason. There’s always another option. They need to hear the truth.”

Sarissa’s eyes turned dark, reflecting the anger one would feel upon being backed into a corner. “Ryder— Cora. Don’t do this.”

Sarissa turned upon hearing Atandra approach them. “Sorry, but we need to start our repairs so we can dock safely with the Nexus. We have one hell of a story for them.”

“There’s… more.” Cora sighed, as if she feared the words but knew they needed to be said. “Sarissa chose retrieving the Kett data over saving Ishara’s life. Our SAM found the succession log.”

Atandra’s head whipped around to face Sarissa, their face mixing with anger, disgust and disbelief. “You… One of your harebrained ideas got Ishara killed?”

“The Kett killed her!” Sarissa tried to defend herself, “I had to be sure the Ark could escape them.”

“And we did! Again and again, while they hunted us down! It’s only dumb luck that Ryder found us! We could have escaped them without that damn data. It wasn’t worth Ishara’s life.” Atandra turned to the remainder of Sarissa’s group, who were listening in shock. “Who’s next in line?” Slowly and cautiously Vederia raised her hand. “Vederia? Maybe a Pathfinder with some humility can do better. You can look to Ryder’s example.”

“She can do it.” Sara nodded, throwing a smile in Vederia’s direction. “I’ve seen her work. Vederia will make a good Pathfinder.”

“I defended you against the Kett!” Sarissa was more than desperate, “Vederia can’t face them, she’s not—”

“‘A huntress without the trust of her team stands alone: she is a tree in the desert, bearing only defiance.” Cora recited a passage of one of Sarissa’s manuals.

“My own words Lieutenant?”

“They’re true. Ma’am.” Cora sighed as Sarissa stormed off, defeated and displaced. Atandra left them with a grateful smile. “Lets go, please.” Cora muttered, “They’re safe, that’s all that matters now.”

Sara nodded and led her away; it would take time, but Sara was willing to help Cora get through it. Whatever that took.

-

“Can I just do today over again? And not have a Pathfinder stripped of everything she loves?” 

Sara went to check on Cora once she’d finished her complete report. She was worried for Cora’s health, the revelation about Sarissa’s actions had clearly hit her hard; she hadn’t left the biolab since they’d returned to the Tempest.

“We made it right.”

Cora sighed, “I put so much faith in Sarissa, but… the Asari were just as lost as we are.”

“Ah, c’mon.” Sara tried to smile for her, sitting on the desk, doing what she could to lighten Cora’s thoughts. “Don’t you give me that. We’re not lost out here. We know our mission, our crew, where we want to end up. That’s enough. We’re path-finding our way pretty good, all things considered.”

Cora chuckled, just a little bit. She sat up and looked to Sara, “Should’ve known better than to say that to a Pathfinder.”

“I could always call up the undertaker, have him throw a few stones in the way if you want more of a challenge?”

“I think I’ve had my fill for one day.” Cora laughed again, a little lighter this time. “Thank you for being on the Leusinia, for finding them, for bringing them back. Can I… tell you something?”

“Of course.”

“The old man was right to choose you as Pathfinder instead of me.”

Sara cocked her brow; this was not a confession she was expecting to hear. “What’s got you so sure?”

“I don’t blaze a trail.” Cora shrugged, “I always look for the mentor, their plan… Watching how you’ve carried yourself all this time, you didn’t stop because you didn’t have the training, you learned as you went and made your own training. And you’re confident in your abilities and your decisions, including how you handled the Ark. Me as Pathfinder? My mistakes would be worse than Sarissa’s.”

Sara let out a breath and shook her head, “Cora I’ve made my share of mistakes out here. I’ve foregone my own health, risked lives, gotten people killed, crushed dreams. I’ve been called a hero, a bitch, a budding tyrant, a joke, a genius, a blunt hardass. All of us make mistakes, all Pathfinders. Doesn’t matter what training you get.” Sara pat her arm, “But you? You’re better than Sarissa. Hell in some ways you’re better than me. You fight harder than anyone I’ve ever known, you save lives without regard for your own and you don’t need applause for that. I’ve seen you inspire the colonists and, hell, even our team in ways I can’t. Ways that I could never begin to emulate.”

“That isn’t—”

“It _is_ true.” Sara grinned, “Deal with it.”

“Hmm…” Cora smiled, a genuine smile. “Neither of us chose this but… maybe we both ended up where we needed to be.” Sara nodded lightly, standing from the desk. “I need to think a bit. But I promise I’ll be okay. And on deck whenever you need me.”

“Good. Go see Lexi if you need to.” Sara told her, respecting her wishes and making her way out of the biolab.

“Sara?” Cora stopped her before she could leave the doorway, “Just so you know, I wouldn’t leave you behind. Not now, not ever.”

Sara laughed, “There’s no one else I’d trust to watch my back more than you Lieutenant.” She waved as she left, allowing Cora time to her thoughts. Time heals all wounds, so they say. For Cora, Sara hoped that would be true.


	28. Adapt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The stress reaches a boiling point for some of the Tempest crew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this chapter is shorter. There is a very good reason for this. =)

No one could say Heleus was boring, that much was certain. It always seemed there was more to do. One more mission, one more calculation, one more argument that needed to be settled. Sara could tell it wore down the crew; there was more than a little tension that she didn’t exactly know how to fix.

Vederia had given her a call to update her on Leusinia’s status. Sara took her medications as she listened, waiting in the galley with the doors shut until the shaking stopped. _“Leusinia docked with Nexus safely. They’re running final checks now.”_

“Good. Steel yourself for our wonderful Directors. They’ll have questions.”

_“So I’ve heard. Macen’s given me a few warnings about them.”_ Vederia hesitated over the coms, and Sara waited. She could hear the nervousness in her voice. _“Pathfinder… I know the Captain is sure, but are you sure about this? You really want me to take over as Pathfinder?”_

“Of course.” Sara told her firmly, “I’ve seen how you work. You’ll make a great Pathfinder, just give it some time.”

_“I… Okay…”_

Sara could understand the hesitancy, as familiar as her own. “Vederia, even I haven’t fully accepted my role as Pathfinder yet. It takes time; let me give you a few tricks. Let yourself build up the confidence, handle the stress instead of ignoring it; and most importantly, get to know your crew. Understand something about their world, if they let you. Don’t pry but don’t ignore either, they need you. I promise it gets easier.”

_“Well if you believe in me then the least I can do is try. Thank you Pathfinder.”_

“It’s Sara.” She laughed, “We’re Pathfinders sure, but also friends I hope.”

Vederia laughed too, _“Absolutely.”_ Sara had to get to the Bridge, so she climbed the ladder and shoved her hands into her pockets once she was at the top. The shaking had yet to completely subsided. Suvi and Kallo were on the Bridge as normal as she walked up to her Pathfinder’s console and began scrolling through their charts. _“I should go help in docking. Good luck out there.”_

“You too Vederia.”

Sara shut off her coms, “Vederia settling in?” Suvi asked.

“It’ll take time,” Sara shrugged, “but I turned out okay so she will too.”

“I hope so. I’d hate to lose another Pathfinder. Poor Ishara didn’t deserve that.”

“With luck, she’ll be the last Pathfinder to fall to the Kett.” Sara selected Voeld as their destination, hoping to assist the Resistance there. 

As Kallo was preparing for the jump, he stopped suddenly with a gasp; Sara looked over to see him staring wide-eyed at his console. “I don’t believe it.” He said with shock, “Gil’s reconfigured our entire nav array!”

“What?” Sara walked over to the back of his chair, looking over his shoulder.

“O’Connell risked a dozen spacewalks putting that in place. Damn it!” His shock turned to anger; Sara could understand full well. After all, the nav array was essential to his piloting. And O’Connell had spent months on it.

“Kallo, don’t—”

“Take the helm.” He grumbled, standing and whirling around. Sara jumped to get out of his way, “I’ve had enough of this!” He grumbled as he marched out of the Bridge. Sara sighed heavily and leaned into his now vacant chair.

“Poor Kallo.” Suvi muttered.

“I don’t blame him.” Sara shrugged, starting to hear Kallo and Gil out at the science station. “I should go diffuse this. You’ve got the helm?”

“Yes. Go ahead.”

Sara went through the doors and down the catwalk; Kallo and Gil were arguing at the science station in full view of the ship. In fact, a crowd had gathered.

“You don’t give a damn what my team and I went through to build this ship!”

Sara stopped at the end of the catwalk and listened, “No, I don’t.” Gil told him, catching Sara’s attention immediately. Those words would hurt Kallo, she knew. “I care about us surviving out here, and if that means redesigning—”

“Redesigning? You don’t have the right! This isn’t your ship!”

“Both of you need to calm down!” Sara stepped in, forcing both of them to focus on her. “Yelling at each other is not going to solve this problem.”

“Pff. Sure. Except you haven’t had to sit through his tangents on how I work the Tempest.”

“I don’t have to.” Sara sighed, “I built this ship too. And his ‘tangents’ are based on facts, you know that.”

“Look, we need to redesign things if we’re going to—!”

“You weren’t here.” Kallo cut him off, “We had to get all kinds of new tech working in a single starship, tech that most people don’t even know exists! Some tech we built from scratch! Sara spent months calculating how to get half of that tech working, we made the parts with our own hands! Fifty-hour shifts. Epiphanies. Accidents.” His voice broke slightly, something Sara caught; Lucille. “Humans can _forget_. Salarians _can’t_.” She immediately recognized those words. She’d said them to him so long ago. “To me it’s all still happening. My team is _here_! Stripping down the Tempest like some broken radio risks everything they suffered to build. Their legacy!”

“Look Kallo, your people did a great job. But they’re dead.” Sara saw Kallo stiffen at that comment, “And they couldn’t have anticipated half the problems in Heleus. Like the Scourge. If we don’t adapt, we’ll die. Is that what you want their ‘legacy’ to be?”

“Gutting a complex ship in the middle of space isn’t adapting! It’s irresponsible! And… disrespectful.”

Sara shook her head slowly. Both were right in different ways and she knew they had yet to see it. “Alright, listen here you two.” She looked at Gil, “The Tempest has too many new systems doing new things to just adapt on the fly. Reconfiguring our nav array without telling the pilot about it? Power imbalance between decks? That’s dangerous Gil. I can’t let that stand, or one of these days we’ll find ourselves broken down in the middle of the Scourge.” She took a deep breath, “But…” She gave Kallo a look, one she knew he would understand, one that mirrored Lucille. “There are things we do need to adapt. We spent too long building this ship to die in the Scourge. Now that we’re here we have to be open to change, even though this ship is sentimental to us both. There’s a crew on board that we need to think about. And that means adapting to keep everyone on board alive and well. So.” She acknowledged them both simultaneously, “No more gutting the Tempest out in space. Any changes we make will be done while we’re docked, and any necessary adaptations will be discussed to find the best solution. We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t understand the tech, and there’s always more than one way to fix a problem. And Gil,” She looked at him pointedly, “changes we do need to make will be made with respect. We risked a lot to build the Tempest. They’re not dead to us.”

“Fine. She’s your ship.” Gil shook his head and began to leave, “I just hope you know what you’re doing.”

Gil went off to the Drive Core. Sara looked to Kallo; he was very upset as he looked to her. Yet he was also relieved and thankful, Sara could see it in his eyes. “Sara, I… I know it’s not…” He sighed, “Thank you.”

She smiled comfortingly, trying to calm him. “Go take some time to calm down Kal.”

He nodded, “I’ll… get you to Voeld first.” He muttered, going back to his pilot’s seat, briefly touching her shoulder as he passed. Then Sara looked to the crowd that had watched, most of the crew had in fact seen the whole thing. 

“Alright, shows over! Jaal, Scott, Liam, I need you three suited up for Voeld.”

Before she left the Tempest Sara worked out the system with SAM; she sent Kallo a note via omni-tool, knowing telling him directly would only make him worry about taking up her time. That was the last thing she wanted him to worry about.

_Kallo,_

_I worked it out with SAM. You have full access to my room and you’ll be able to enter without authorization from me. Take some time there and calm down in privacy, if you want._

_I miss them too._

_Yours,_

_Sara._

The four took the Nomad and headed out into the cold snow of Voeld.

-

The four had to take out a Kett command center by themselves, without any backup. Sure. Why the hell not?

So they fought through. It took them grueling hours, and sometimes they had to stop and hide just to let the Kett spread out; they knew taking out the bulk all at once was suicide.

“Could do with these storms being gone. Can’t we activate the Vault?”

“Not yet.” Sara sighed, “We haven’t been able to crack the Remnant algorithms yet.”

“Doesn’t seem logical that this Vault is more complex than others.”

“I have a theory on that.” She hummed, “It seems to me that the majority of Remnant sites here on Voeld are trapped under ice. Previous vaults suggest that their codes adapt to the planetary conditions, but with most of the sites encased in ice it turns terraforming into a longer process. I suspect the algorithms complexity mirrors the difficulty of the world.”

Another wave of Kett cut them off, but soon enough they’d dealt with them. They waited to detect the next drop ships, playing it as safe as possible. 

“Say, Sara?” Liam asked her once as they waited. “You handled the fight well. But you didn’t side with Kallo just because you’re together, right?”

“I didn’t side with either of them.” Sara shrugged, “They were both right and wrong for different reasons. That’s what compromise is for.”

“If it’s any consolation, I understand Kallo’s hesitation, and yours.” Jaal said, “It is obvious you put your hearts and souls into the Tempest.”

“We did.” She smiled, “We sure did…”

“Putting everything you have into something, I’ve done it too.” Liam nodded, “You’ve gotta have some good stories.”

“Ha! You know the Tempest’s windows? To test their strength I paid three Krogan to get themselves drunk and proceeded to challenge them to break the windows using a C-Sec battering ram. The windows never broke. When I say I put everything into the Tempest, I mean that quite literally.”

“You’re kidding!”

“Nope.” She grinned, “Best days of my life were spent building her.”

Jaal laughed, “I admire that about both you and Kallo.” The group were alerted when Kett started coming toward their location. They doubted they were still hidden.

“Seconded!”

“Thirded.”

They raised their weapons and got into position. “Thanks guys.” 

-

Sara returned to a quiet Tempest. She did have to take some time to break the ice off her armor but otherwise it was actually peaceful. A slow day for the Tempest, with everyone off in their own corners. She would admit just how nice that was.

Sara went to the Bridge; Kallo wasn’t there, but Suvi was. She didn’t want to pry just yet, she’d find him eventually. She hoped he was getting some rest and calming down. “Welcome back Pathfinder.” Suvi smiled, “Have a moment?”

“Sure Suvi, what’s up?”

“We might have a problem.” Suvi beckoned her over to her station, “I was running some numbers, mass balances and such. The Tempest is carrying about seventy kilos of extra mass. I think something’s aboard that doesn’t belong.”

“Or someone.” Sara squinted at the console, “That’s about the mass of a person.”

“I took a look around, nothing was out of place. Our internal systems aren’t picking up anything either, but they’re not as powerful as your scanner. Can you take a look?”

“Sure. I’ll find it.”

Sara scanned all over the Tempest, top to bottom. Nothing was unusual until she got to the back storage room, where Vetra usually stayed. She wasn’t there, but something was on the wall that Sara recognized. She almost couldn’t believe it, wouldn’t have if she wasn’t looking at it with her own two eyes.

Kallo needed to see.

SAM informed her that Kallo had taken up her offer and was in her room, so she went and entered quietly; Kallo was sitting on the couch, a datapad in one hand and the picture of their Milky Way crew in the other.

He glanced when he heard the door open, his eyes brightening up only slightly. “Hey. Thanks for this.”

“How are you doing?” She asked him, sitting beside him on the couch. “That got pretty heated.”

“… A foolish thing to get angry over, isn’t it.” He muttered, looking back to the picture. “I just… I’m still there, you know? I still see them, all the time. O’Connell in cargo, Teon by the Drive Core, Lucille at the science station, Sorenna sitting where Suvi now resides; sometimes I look over and see Sora instead of Suvi.” He looked at Sara with a depth, a sadness that she didn’t quite expect. Like he was searching for something in her eyes. “You’re the only one who’s… a bit of a paradox. You’re in both places; I see you leading us, and then I see you sitting in the corner quietly running your calculations. And it’s… sometimes it’s hard to differentiate. Like it’s all memories and you won’t be here next time I blink. I… can’t unsee them.”

She smiled at him and put a hand to his cheek in an effort to comfort him, as he usually did to her, “People aren’t dead while someone still remembers them.”

“Hmm. I said something like that to you a long time ago, didn’t I?”

“It’s still true.” She said, “We remember them. And the metal of this ship will always remember them. That’s what matters.”

“It would be… very hard to be the last. Though the Tempest will outlast us all.”

“We’re not the last yet.” Her smile grew as she moved to take his hand, pulling him up and off the couch. “Come on. I want to show you something.” She took Kallo to the back of the ship and into the storage room. “Suvi detected the Tempest carrying some extra mass. I found it.” She brought up her scanner to show him; he squinted when he saw, “See that? Behind the bulkhead.”

“It looks like…” Kallo’s eyes widened, “A construction mech… Luci’s construction mech. She must have welded it into the hull. Her artist’s signature.”

“Yeah. Six hundred years pass, the power runs out, Suvi detects it.”

**“Pathfinder, scanning the mech has unlocked an audio log.”**

Kallo looked to her in true surprised. “Play it SAM.”

_“A SAM found my construction gear, then. Well done. One of you Pathfinders got the Tempest. And you got two very good friends of mine along with it; Kallo Jath and Sara Ryder. They’ll keep your new ship safe. Macen Barro, Zevin Raeka, Matriarch Ishara, Alec Ryder. You were the best of us.”_

It was emotional for both of them to hear Lucille’s voice. It was as kind as Sara remembered it, surreal just to hear it. Kallo shut his eyes rather slowly, just listening, taking it in. She squeezed his hand, he squeezed hers right back.

_“Take care of my ship, each other, and my dear friends. Whatever’s in Andromeda, you’re the Milky Way to them. ‘We are such stuff as dreams are made on. And our little life is rounded with a sleep.’”_

“I…” Kallo sighed, “I never thought I’d hear Lucille’s voice again.”

“She cared about us. About the Pathfinders. Enough to give us her rig, for luck.” She smiled at him, “It belongs here, with us. She made it part of the Tempest so lets keep it that way.”

“I’ll see to it.”

“Good.” The two were startled when they heard yelling somewhere in the Tempest; another argument had sparked. Kallo looked rather annoyed about that, but Sara just shook her head. “The stress wears on us all right now. Things will get better.”

“Hmm.” He managed to smile for her, “When you say it, I believe it.” Kallo wrapped his arm around her, finally beginning to relax. “Thanks Sara. You are right about adapting… I’ll do my best to be open minded.”

“Take your time.” She told him, “Things will change, and that’s okay, but no one said it needs to be rushed.” The shouting got louder, making Kallo wince just slightly. “I better deal with that before they start fires.” Sara stood on her toes and lightly kissed his cheek before making her way out. “We’ll make Luci proud.” She told him as she left, going to diffuse the current argument. 

There was always one more thing to do.


	29. Paarchero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew manages to locate the Archon's ship; and something else they never could have expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To make up for the shortness of yesterday's chapter, here's a longer one for you!

It was time. They had gotten so close. Sara knew it was time.

They’d been working for weeks to hack the Kett transponder. Finally SAM had nearly decoded it, so Sara gathered everyone up in the meeting room to ensure they were all on the same page. This was much more dangerous than anything they’d ever attempted.

“The Archon’s flagship. We’ve got no room for mistakes here.” Sara placed the transponder in the center of the table, “The way I see it our best course is to sneak on board.”

“I agree. The ship will be crawling with Kett.” Cora nodded, “Asari Huntresses train specifically to remain undetected.”

“Alright, you’re in.” Sara nodded, “Anyone else experienced in stealthy entrances?”

Vetra stood straighter, “I ran a few paid jobs gathering intel without detection.”

“Fantastic. Scott, I assume you’re not taking ‘stay here’ for an answer?”

“Nope.” He said, “Alliance gave us stealth training anyway.”

“Okay. We don’t know where we can sneak in until we have scans of the ship, but we can think about escape routes in the event that we can’t outrun them. Kallo, can we maybe hide among the Scourge?”

“As a last resort, yes.” Kallo nodded, “That’s assuming his ship is faster than ours.”

“We’re not taking chances. I want you and Suvi scanning the surrounding Scourge the moment we get there, just in case. We might have to make a run for it. According to the Moshae the Meridian artifact we need is located in the Archon’s chambers. We get in and get out quickly. With luck they’ll never know we were there.”

“I assume you have a plan B?”

“If we’re spotted? Absolutely. Shoot everything and start fucking praying. We’ll only get once chance at this so lets make it count.”

**“Pathfinder, I have decoded the transponder.”**

“Good job SAM. Lets—” They suddenly could hear Kett voices through the transponder; that was not part of the plan. She rushed to shut it off. “Do they know where we are?”

**“Negative Pathfinder. I am not sure they even realized we were listening.”**

“Best not to take chances. Do you have the Archon’s location?”

**“Yes.”**

“Alright.” Sara nodded firmly, “Lets get this done people. Now or never.”

Sara went to get suited up with her crew. While only four were going in everyone seemed on edge, so everyone got into armor just in case. Sara was tired but the knowledge of the mission was making up for that; she wanted to stick it to the Archon, to figure out exactly what Meridian was, to take it out from under him. For the Angara, for the Initiative, and for herself.

When she was suited up she went to the Bridge. They were in FTL when she arrived, nearly at the system. “Tafeno system.” Kallo told her, “Average size, five planets, nothing stands out about it.”

“We’re getting a lot of Kett com chatter.” Suvi reported.

“Keep us stealthed.” 

“No Scourge here. We’ll have to rely on our speeds.”

They were quickly headed towards the nav point. **“Pathfinder, sensors confirm the presence of the Archon’s ship.”**

“Fantastic.”

“But there’s something else.” Kallo’s eyes widened as they got close. Cora, Scott and Vetra came up behind Sara to see their approach. “There’s an Initiative ship tethered to it. It’s…” They got close enough to see it for themselves; gasps circulated the Bridge. “Ark Paarchero!”

**“Confirmed. It matches the Salarian Ark. Readings suggest it has been here for some time.”**

“Shit…” Sara breathed, caught completely off guard. “That changes our plans considerably. SAM, I need a tactical.” A holo of the ships appeared, giving them better angle visuals. “The Kett must have captured the Ark. How long has it been here…?”

“What’s the plan Pathfinder?” Cora asked.

“We have to save the Salarians. I say we board the Paarchero, assess the situation and see if we can locate their Pathfinder. Then we’ll sneak on board Archon’s ship through the tethers.”

**“The Ark is on standby. Only its stasis facilities are online.”**

“And the Salarians?”

**“Unknown.”**

Sara sighed. This was going to be a lot more complicated than she thought. “This changes everything.” Scott muttered, “Who knows what the Archon is capable of.”

“We keep our eyes open, move fast and stay low. We underestimate the Archon, we die. We need to do this right.”

“Sara?” Kallo stood from his chair to face her. There was a desperation in his eyes, a deep fear for the Ark. A plea to her that she had hoped she’d never need to hear from him, “Whatever you need.” He told her, “Those are my people.”

“We’ll get them back Kal. I promise. Lets make this one count.”

-

Boarding the Paarchero was eerie. It was silent, too silent. No power, no crew, nothing. It was as if the ship was completely void. _“No unusual activity from the Kett ship.”_ Kallo reported.

“I want to know the minute anything changes.”

**“Pathfinder, if you access a console I can assess the situation.”**

“Alright. Track down their Pathfinder SAM.” Sara remembered her father talking about Zevin Raeka, the Salarian Pathfinder. She prayed they weren’t too late. “How does the ship look?”

**“Some Kett infrastructure has been added. However, all systems are operational.”**

“So it’s flight ready.”

**“Yes.”**

That was good. That was very very good. “What are you planning sis?” Scott asked her.

“The easiest way to save the most people is to take the whole Ark with us.” 

“Easy isn’t the word I’d choose.”

Sara gave them a confident look, “If the right Salarians are still on board, this might work.”

“Well, there are no signs of a fight.” Vetra muttered.

“Did the Salarians just surrender?”

“No way to know. Their Pathfinder might.”

They found a med bay, and within were a couple of Salarians who had passed away during their time in stasis. One in particular caught their attention; **“This colonist died in stasis. He is identified as Pathfinder Zevin Raeka.”**

“He?” Sara shook her head, “No, that’s not right. Dad was very clear, Raeka is female. Who is this really?”

**“Sequencing his DNA… The DNA of the deceased Salarian is identified as Jex Arlan.”**

“They must have switched them… trying to hide their Pathfinder.”

“Clever.” Cora hummed.

“Lets check his stasis pod.” They went back into the cryo bay to search. It wasn’t hard. “Look at all the missing pods. What happened to them?”

“I think we all have a guess.”

It wasn’t long before they found the right pod. There was a female Salarian inside, so they take the pod back to the med bay and contacted Lexi. She walked them through the revival process to ensure they made no mistakes.

Zevin Raeka seemed young but strong. She was wearing orange clan markings and donned in full armor, she even had a gun in the pod. Soon Raeka’s eyes were blinking open; she saw Sara first, but seemed immediately tense, like she was ready to start throwing punches.

“Hey hey, take it slow. We’re friendly.” Sara comforted the Pathfinder immediately. Raeka looked to her crew and realized they weren’t Kett. She sat up and shook her head, taking a few deep breaths.

“No need. I’m fine.” She replied, her voice slightly raspy from being in stasis. “Salarian stasis recovery is almost immediate.” She looked to Sara again, seemingly quite confused. “Who are you?”

“Sara Ryder, Human Pathfinder. This is my crew.”

“Ryder… where’s Alec?”

Raeka looked worried at how Sara would respond, so she tried to sound as comforting as possible. “My father was injured on Habitat 7. He can’t return to the field so he gave the role to me.”

“He’s alive?”

“Yes.”

She nodded once in relief, taking another breath before pushing herself up and off the bed. She stumbled a little but managed to remain on her feet. “This is madness. Stasis was a mistake. I never should have agreed to it.” Raeka went to a nearby console and accessed Ark systems.

“Are you okay?” Sara asked her. “Were you hurt before going into stasis?”

“No, but… A leader leads. She doesn’t go to sleep.” Raeka tapped furiously on the console, working at a pace only a Salarian could. “A hostile species, an armada, set upon us. Our captain saw no choice but surrender. Said we’d live to fight another day. He convinced me to hide in the general population and we dismantled my SAM so I wouldn’t be detected. But we’re still in their grasp… I see.”

“That’s going to change.” Scott told her, “We’re going to get you out of here.”

“We’re headed into the Kett ship to gather intelligence. There’s an artifact on board vital to our survival here in Heleus, I can’t explain right now but if we don’t reach that artifact now the entire cluster is in serious danger. Wake up a flight crew and prepare the Ark for escape on my signal.”

“That’ll be no trouble.” Raeka nodded firmly, right down to business. She seemed utterly confident. “And then I’ll work on freeing the Ark so you can focus on your objective.”

“Good. Do what you can, but stay quiet. We’re trying not to be detected.”

Raeka took a breath, “Yes. Of course.”

“I’m keying you into our coms. We’ll stay in touch. Anything happens, you contact me.”

SAM connected to Raeka too, **“Hello Pathfinder Raeka.”**

“Ah. A SAM in my head again. I’m back in the game.” She stood straight, “We’ll be ready, Ryder.”

-

“Tempest, this is Sara. We’re in the tether crossing to the Archon’s ship.”

_“So far there are no indications they’re aware of your presence. Still… please be careful.”_

“It’ll be okay.”

It was decidedly not the entrance she’d hoped for. There was a lot of security at the end of the tether, heavily armed Kett that they had no way to avoid. It turned into a firefight. No way they were hidden anymore, this would be tough.

SAM accessed a console and found the Archon’s chambers. He plotted a course for them as a voice came over Sara’s coms, _“Pathfinder?”_

“I thought you were on the Ark.”

It was Raeka. She was coming out of the tether she had just entered through with a small crew behind her. “Too many of our people are missing.” Raeka joined them on the upper level.

“If we don’t find them now, we never will.”

“This is Captain Hayjer. We’ll focus on the rescue while you push ahead.”

“Alright. We’ll open this route for you. I’m sorry we can’t help you free the prisoners.”

“Its alright.” Raeka gave her an encouraging smile. “Your mission is too important to leave it behind. Good luck, Pathfinder.”

“You too, Pathfinder.”

The Salarians disappeared into the shadows, leaving Sara and her crew to make their way through the ship. It was huge, as big as the Arks were. It was built rather strangely, the halls had an odd design to them that gave them all a strange fun-house effect as they walked. It took everything Sara had to focus on the objective. 

“This is where we find out how good we really are.”

“We can do this. Two powerful biotics, a damn fantastic gunner and a Pathfinder? Piece of cake.”

“I wish I had your confidence Scott.”

They had to fight through some large rooms, with Kett coming from drop ships and side halls. Alarms began blaring all over the ship, not what Sara wanted but there wasn’t much choice either. They pushed forward, fighting through waves of Kett. “This relic better be everything the Moshae said!”

They continued down hallways that seemed to stretch on and on. The hallways were thankfully quieter as the Kett mostly stayed to the larger rooms, giving them small chances to breathe before the next push.

_“Pathfinder, it’s Raeka. I assume those alarms are because of you?”_

“Yeah. We had an altercation. The Kett probably know what we’re here for. And you?”

_“Undetected so far. Still looking for our people.”_ Raeka seemed to hesitate, _“This place is… strange. We’ve found dark laboratories but not much else.”_

“With luck you’ll find some that are still alive.”

_“We’ll do what we can. Raeka out.”_

“… Am I the only one who’s thinking ‘Exaltation’ here?” Scott muttered worriedly.

“No.” Sara sighed, “You have no idea how much I’m praying that’s not the case.”

“Maybe we’ll get lucky.” Cora said, “Maybe this ship is for something else.”

“Lets hope so.”

They found two stasis pods from the Salarian leadership, Yosz Enrix and Medrow Aden. Both pods were empty. They were all trying not to imagine what had happened to the multitude of other missing stasis pods.

Another hallway emptied out into a room much larger than the first. Out the window, in full view for them to see, were huge guns pointed directly at Ark Paarchero. 

“This is a warship. A damn warship. That’s going to be a problem.”

They went to move on, but couldn’t; the door locked in their faces. “Ambush!”

The Kett swarmed in through every other door with seemingly no end, from multiple floors. Sara managed to jump-jet to high ground, but it was hardly enough; the Kett kept coming. Sara watched Scott and Cora trying to thin them out with their biotics, but it only seemed to be making a small dent.

“We’re here Ryder! We’ve got your back!”

The Salarians burst in from a floor above them, higher than she or the Kett could get to. “Raeka! We’ll take any help you can give us!”

“We’ll provide over watch!”

“There’s still a chance!”

The fight was brutal. The Salarians managed fairly well on the upper floor but the rest were stuck with the Kett. Sara was forced to use her shotgun, tearing through the Kett that charged her. A lot of bodies littered the room, too many in Sara’s mind. But they had to push through.

“Ryder, we have to pull out! We’ve got wounded!”

“Go, we’ve got it from here! You saved our asses!”

An Ascendant even tried to take out her crew, but focused biotics attacks from Scott and Cora quickly put an end to that. Soon SAM managed to open a door for them, and they ran for a hallway and out of the firefight. SAM locked the door behind them; they could breathe.

“Christ…”

“No one said this would be easy.” Cora managed between heavy breaths, as they all did.

“Ryder? Is that you?” The hallway led to a small room with a window into an adjacent hall. Sara went to the window and to the voice, only to be met with Raeka and her crew.

“I’m here.” Sara nodded, leaning heavily into the ledge beneath the window. Raeka and her crew seemed to be taking a very short break as well. “Are you okay?”

“Seldon’s wounds were fatal.” She reported sadly. Sara sighed, shaking her head slowly.

“I’m sorry. He was brave, right to the last.”

“Yes. He will be remembered.”

“I can’t access this console!” Hayjer was trying to open the door but had no success. “It’s not working!”

“SAM, work on the door for them.” SAM began to work as Sara turned back to Raeka. “We’ve got a big problem. You saw those guns right?”

“I did. They’ll destroy the Ark before we can power up the engines.”

“We need a way to neutralize them all simultaneously.”

“There… may be a way. Venro here used to repair FTL Drives on private cruisers. An EMP device?”

“It might work. If we rig one to detonate near the guns it might disable them all for a short time.”

“Might is better than nothing. I’ll take those odds.” Sara nodded, “What about your people?”

“I’ll keep looking while Hayjer and Venro work on the EMP.”

“A lot of things have to go right for this to work.”

Raeka smiled, “That’s when Salarians are at our best.”

“I believe it.” Sara did her best to emulate Raeka’s confidence, “I worked in a facility on Sur’Kesh for a few years. I have utter faith in you guys.” The very statement seemed to give them a slight boost; she understood. 

SAM got the door open, so the Salarians went on their way. Sara continued on, down corridors and through strange rooms as SAM gave them directions to avoid the most Kett. Granted, him being able to alter her vocal chords to sound like a Kett to get them through a door was creepy, but she decided to run with it.

“Why are we still keeping our voices low?” Cora asked.

“We’re sneaking onto an enemy ship.” Vetra told her as if it was obvious.

“They already know we’re here.”

“It makes this feel like we’re still in espionage. Why take chances right?”

They continued on, finding less corridors and more labs. They ran across scientists who made a run from them as soon as they entered. The labs had lots of different equipment but, so far, nothing within to use them on. Sara wanted to access their consoles to get answers but she knew there was no time.

“I hate to bring this up, but… if we don’t save the Ark, how many Salarians will be left?”

“Not enough.” Sara sighed.

“Think of how poor Kallo would feel.”

“He’s all I’m thinking about.”

The Kett were trying to protect these labs, which stretched on either side of long corridors. Most were locked and dark, with strange windows that could be tinted so no one could see inside. It was eerie; Sara was doing her best to not imagine what the labs were being used for.

Then they found stasis pods.

They littered a storage area beside a lab, all of which were empty. Sara scanned and scanned trying to find one that wasn’t empty, but she had no such luck.

“They’re all empty. Where did the Kett take them?”

“Exaltation seems a lot more likely.”

Scott grumbled, “God damn it. Please tell me I won’t be right. I really really want to be wrong right now.”

They moved on, up a ledge and through another lab. The oder was what hit them first, foul and nearly unbearable. That was when they came across horror beyond anything Sara had ever seen before.

Salarians. A lot of dead Salarians.

They’d been placed on cold stretchers along a hallway, at least two dozen of them. Some were covered by tarps, others were left exposed. The bodies and the floor were covered in blood.

Sara wasn’t sure she was breathing at first. Scott came up and grabbed her arms as if he could protect her from whoever had killed these Salarians. “My god… who could do this?”

Sara scanned one of the bodies trying to get their DNA, hoping to find out who the poor soul was. **“This Salarian is missing organs. It appears he died _after_ the operation.”**

“… No. That has to be wrong.” Sara was only standing because Scott was keeping her upright. “The Kett ran experiments on them? While they were still alive?”

“We’re animals to them, aren’t we?” Cora’s voice shook. “DNA to be harvested…”

That was when they all heard it; screaming from nearby. Unmistakably high-pitched, Salarian pitched. On the far side of the room they saw a window, and upon running to it they saw two Kett scientists experimenting on a live Salarian prisoner. She was screaming.

“HEY!” The group began pounding on and shooting the glass, trying desperately to break in. “I’m going to personally find you and kill you for this, you bastards!” Vetra raged aloud. One of the scientists casually walked to a console and tinted the window; they could no longer see inside, they could only hear.

“SAM, get me in there!”

**“I cannot.”**

“What do you mean you can’t?!” Sara paced furiously in front of the window, “There’s always a way!”

**“Security is heightened. I cannot access this room.”**

“Find me a damn console!”

**“There are none nearby, Pathfinder.”**

“We have to do _something_! We— We—!”

“Sara…” Scott stopped her in her tracks. “We have to go.”

“We can’t leave her here!” They could still hear the pained screaming. It was too much to listen to. She wanted so desperately to stop them.

“We have to go.” Scott repeated. He brought his hands to both sides of her face and held her there, forcing her to look him in the eye. “We can’t help her. We need to keep going.”

“I can’t do that Scott!”

“Please Sara, just think.” He seemed desperate and unsure of what to do or how to handle the situation. He’d bring his forehead to hers then backed away, moved his hands from her face to her arms to her shoulders in his desperation, just trying to think through his own terror. His hands were shaking. “Please. All we can do now is get the relic and save the Ark. We— We can’t save all of them. Please. We need to stop these monsters at the heart. The relic. Please.”

Sara had never seen devastation like that on Scott’s face before. She realized, a little too suddenly, that he was right. She couldn’t believe it, but he was right. She shuddered just thinking about it.

Sara didn’t remember answering him. She went to scan the bodies and collect their DNA signatures. The least she could do was find out who these poor victims were and give their families closure once it was over. She needed to at least do that for them.

The screaming had stopped. They had no choice but to leave, to continue their search for the relic. It was all they could do. And it was a choice that Sara knew would haunt her for the rest of her life.


	30. Bleeding Green

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara and crew continue their rescue of Ark Paarchero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This quest is so painfully beautiful. Painful to play through but man, it's so beautifully written. Makes me cry every damn time.
> 
> Warnings for: Blood, torture, dissection, experimentation, death.

There was a heaviness to every step. As if the weight of the world was crashing down on top of them. Sara felt like she was not going to survive.

It had been a long time since she’d felt like that. It hadn’t been on Habitat 7, or anywhere in Andromeda. The Citadel was the last time she’d thought she was going to lose everything. When it was as if everything was falling away beneath her. That feeling, one she’d hoped she’d never have to feel again, came rushing back as they discovered more and more bodies.

It seemed her entire crew was feeling that pressure; it was more than any of them had bargained for. Scott, especially, was getting that protective look on his face, something almost primal; he wanted to get out, he wanted to drag Sara out with him, and she could tell it was taking every ounce of discipline he had to remain.

 _“Ryder, this is Raeka.”_ Sara’s com lit up, _“Have you… seen these bodies?”_

“Yes… we saw them.” She sighed, “I’m so sorry Raeka.”

 _“We’ll focus on those we can still save.”_ Raeka sounded very upset, but determined none the less. _“I’ve managed to free a few groups of prisoners. They’re retracing our steps to get back to the Ark. I’m pushing forward to find more.”_

“SAM, monitor the survivors. Make sure they reach the Ark.”

**“Yes Pathfinder.”**

_“Tempest to Pathfinder.”_ Liam cut into the coms, _“Want the rest of us to get on board, search for more survivors?”_

Sara thought about that for a long moment. She knew what she wanted them to do, but she also knew what needed to happen; it crushed her just to consider it.

“… No. God damn it, no.” She told them, physically pained to say the words. “We can’t worry about a third team running around in here, the Kett are on far too high of an alert. It’s too risky.”

 _“Agreed.”_ Raeka seemed just as pained to admit it, _“As much as I’d like the help, the risk is too high at this point.”_

_“…Alright.”_

Sara shut down her coms as they continued. A hallway emptied out into a large, very dark room. First glances indicated it was another lab, much bigger than the ones before. They marched through, trying to reach the exit as quickly as possible.

**Sara, caution—”**

SAM was cut off as the group was suddenly caught in an immobilizing field; a trap. They’d walked right into a trap. None of them could move beyond moving their heads, they dropped their guns and were slightly suspended in the air. 

“Damn. What is this?” Vetra growled as she tried to move and couldn’t.

“SAM, I need—”

“It’s useless to struggle.” That was a voice that had been ingrained into Sara’s mind. A voice so twisted it could only belong to one; the Archon himself. Sure enough he emerged from the shadows, where he’d no doubt been watching them. He walked forward without emotion, his Second in Command on his heels. 

The Archon walked among the group, and there was nothing they could do about it. It was as if he was inspecting them, taking mental notes like they were nothing more than lab rats. “I’ve been in this forsaken cluster for decades, surrounded by amoeba. Then _you_ arrive; a human, able to do the unthinkable. You even evaded me.” The Archon stopped in front of her, looked her in the eye without fear or anger. It was as if he was… bored. “Such an unlikely rival. It was almost invigorating to have one. And yet, it’s a fitting end— you know not what you’re using.”

“You’ve forgotten that I activated the Remnant.” Sara scoffed, “Something you’ve never accomplished, have you, even after all your time here. Poor unfortunate Archon, unable to handle a few robots.”

“You speak as if I should be afraid of what you believe you’ve accomplished. You are merely parasites to be purged.”

“Parasites? I’ve seen what you’ve done to the Angara, the Salarians, to god knows how many other species. Despicable, unacceptable and unforgivable. You’re a damn monster. I would shoot you where you stand, if you’d face me without cowering beside immobilizing fields or behind a holo.”

The Archon still held no emotion in his face. He reached up and grabbed Sara’s neck, his nails digging into her skin. Enough to hurt but not to completely cut off her ability to breathe. “This is what I call progress.” He told her.

“Get your hands _off_ my sister, you slimy bastard!” Scott tried to struggle, but there was nothing he could do, nothing any of them could do. They could only watch.

The Archon turned her head a few times before holding up his other hand. Something was in it that she couldn’t see; moments later she felt a pain in the back of her neck as he jabbed something into it, and it took everything she had not to let him hear her scream. He seemed to take a blood sample, then removed his hand and the device. “A first sample. Your testing begins now. I will learn your secrets soon enough.” It was then that an explosion rang out through the ship, coupled with slight shaking. “Report.” Somehow Archon was receiving a report, perhaps over an earpiece she couldn’t see. “Await my arrival.” He seemed slightly annoyed by whatever it was he’d been told, but looked Sara in the eye again all the same. “Save your strength, human.” She refused to answer him, so he and his Second walked away and out of the room.

Once the doors were closed Sara let out a pained groan, hanging her head for a moment. She took some deep breaths and felt a little bit of blood trickle down her neck. Some small drops hit the floor below her. “Sara? Are you okay?” Scott asked her worriedly.

She grimaced, “Son of a _bitch_ , that hurt like hell.” She grumbled, trying to refocus herself. “What the hell was that?”

“Raeka must have run into trouble.”

“We have her beat.” Sara took another deep breath, “SAM what can you tell me?”

**“I am sensing a biological transmitter in your bloodstream, Pathfinder. Attempting to neutralize.”**

“Okay. Yeah.” She muttered worriedly, “That’s definitely priority number two. How do we get out of this?”

 **“The containment field only interacts with living matter. If you expire, the field around you will disappear to manually reset.”** Sara’s brows furrowed as she listened, **“As you know, my access to your physiology allows me to enhance your vital signals when required. I can also do the opposite.”**

Sara understood, and she wished desperately that she didn’t. “So… if you shut down my vitals— if you _kill me_ — I’d be freed from the field.”

**“The one holding you, yes. Then I would attempt to resuscitate.”**

“Are there _any_ other options?” She asked him nervously. 

**“None that I can determine. I am sorry, Pathfinder.”**

Sara let out a shaking breath. She knew what had to be done but to say she was terrified of that was an understatement. But it had to be done— for her crew. “I… Alright. Do it.”

“No, no no no no no.” Scott was alarmed and scared and everything in between, “No way Sara! What if you don’t survive?! What if—?!

Sara clenched her teeth hard, shutting her eyes as tightly as she could. “God damn it, just do it SAM! Do it before I change my mind!”

“Sara—!”

**“Stopping your heart… now.”**

Dying was not the experience she’d expected. The world fell to black as she hit the floor, fell to silence. She was left there to hang, stuck in limbo. Everything had gone still. Sara had never feared death, had always known it would come for her, but this— actually experiencing it— this was something completely different. Different, sad, and yet... peaceful.

It was then that she learned that, quite literally, life flashed before her eyes. Her life from beginning to end. The Milky Way, her friends, her family. Her father. Scott. Kallo.

Kallo.

_“Your mind is the only one I really know.”_

**Stimu— — core. Z— acti—.**

_“He’s not going to get to you, we won’t let him. I won’t let him.”_

Kallo.

**St— cardi— — lar core.**

_“The Geth couldn’t separate us, I’m not letting search teams do it either. Not after all that.”_

**Sara. Wake up.**

_“Sara!”_

The world came back into focus in a crashing wakeup call. Sara’s eyes snapped open as she inhaled a deep breath, her head ringing, the room spinning. She could feel again; she could feel everything. 

Sara had to roll onto her hands and knees, taking in deep breaths and coughing up what felt like a lung. The revival was painful to say the least, everything rushing back all at once was more than a little off-putting. The realization of where she was, what she had been doing, and what she had been thinking about in those few agonizing moments.

“Sis? Sara?” Scott was trying to get her to focus on him. The world itself was slowly starting to come back into focus. 

“I-I’m… here…” She breathed. “I’m here.”

Scott let out a long sigh, “Thank god… Sara, don’t you do that to me again.”

“Believe me…” She muttered as she forced herself to stand, albeit with a bit of a stumble. “I never want to do that again. Thanks for reviving me SAM.”

**“You’re welcome. I believe that option was preferable to the alternative.”**

Sara moved to a nearby console, struggling to regain her footing. Deactivating it made the field holding her group disappear. They fell to the floor, and Scott couldn’t reach Sara fast enough. He hugged her tightly, fear mixed with desperation, and he was shaking; she realized then, so was she.

“Are you okay?” He asked her.

“… Yes.”

Scott looked into her face, the concern etched into his features. “Are you sure? You died, sis.” 

“Yes, Yes I— I’m fine. Lets just finish this, okay? Please?”

Scott let out a relieved sigh. “Okay.”

The group took the opportunity given to them to inspect the room; it was indeed a large lab. There were operating tables and lots of audio logs packed with information. There were holos in a side room with Archon’s observations of each Milky Way species. He was nothing if not thorough, she’d give him that.

Sara did find some audio logs that were so terrible, so gruesome, she stood there unable to move or stop listening but wanting to throw up at the same time. It was clearly audio of the dissection and torture of a Salarian that laid dead on one of the nearby tables; Scott marched up and crushed the whole audio node with his biotics so that Sara wouldn’t listen to it anymore. He reminded her sternly, they needed to find the controls to open a nearby maintenance shaft.

Soon shots and Kett could be heard over loudspeakers, ringing out all over the ship. “Archon, do you hear me?! Now you have two Pathfinders to deal with! And we’re not impressed with your security!” It was Raeka over the speakers, shooting and being shot at.

Sara activated her coms the moment the speakers cut out, “Raeka, come in! Are you okay? What’s going on?”

 _“A little diversion! Hayjer and Venro need time to set up the EMP! I-I’ll be in touch!”_ Raeka sounded rushed, and Sara didn’t push; she needed to focus on the battle she was fighting.

“Sure glad she’s on our side.”

They found the shaft controls and made their way through a maintenance corridor. They were on their way again. It was dark but they were moving.

It wasn’t long before they heard running water, and… something else. Screaming. Blood-churning screams. Soon they came across what Sara would equate to sewage. The screams came out of the piping and ducts that let out there, probably from labs on various parts of the ship. More Salarians they couldn’t save. The sewage had empty stasis pods that had been dumped and a few bodies. A lot of the water was green with Salarian blood. 

From the maintenance shaft they could continue to hear screaming from all over. It was sickening, so terrible that Sara wanted so desperately to curl up and cover her ears. Scott took her hand and walked with her, made sure she and the group kept moving.

They found a wraith down there in the dark. It had been feeding on a dead Salarian. Sara could hardly look. “Poor guy.” Vetra muttered, “He must have escaped into these ducts. And then…”

“They sent that animal in here to find him.”

The group continued on, there was nothing they could do for the dead. They were getting closer to the Archon’s chambers. _“This is Raeka. I found a large group of prisoners, they’re still alive. I’m headed there now. Hayjer, what’s your status?”_

_“The EMP is primed and ready, on your signal Pathfinder.”_

“We’re almost to the Archon’s chambers. Stand by.”

It was almost too much to bear. The Archon’s chambers were just as bad as the lab; there were many dead Salarians in test-tubes there. But they weren’t fully Salarian, the Kett had begun to figure out how to exalt their DNA. That was bad news. The last tube in the bunch had what looked like a Krogan, but it was drastically altered. They were much closer to exalting Krogan than they were any other Milky Way species, it seemed. They discovered it was one of Drack’s missing scouts.

They found his Sanctum. There were many Remnant pieces there, things he was studying and testing. “Why does he care so much about the Remnant?” Cora wondered aloud, “It’s an obsession.”

“We need to beat him to the answer.”

The Archon had damaged many of the Remnant artifacts during his testing, so much so that they were irreparable. He even had junk items, artifacts that had no useful purpose, but he displayed them as if they were important. Sara realized that he was completely in the dark, he had no idea what he was doing with the Remnant. That was good for them; it was an advantage, she just didn’t know how to use it yet.

Then they found the artifact they were looking for. A map to Meridian. By adding in the charts they found on Eos, SAM was able to determine Meridian’s location. They had the coordinates.

 _“So that’s what your after.”_ The group spun around, guns ready. The Archon appeared to them over a holo. _“There’s more to Meridian than you know. Changing the weather is a fraction of its power. I will not allow you to defile it.”_

“Allow me?” She glared, “You can’t fucking stop me. I’m better equipped to handle it than you are.”

 _“Why? Because you have an artificial intelligence in your head explaining it to you?”_ He knew about SAM. That was bad. _“I’ve seen what transpired in the laboratory, and now I know what makes you… special.”_ He looked at her as if he wanted to dissect her, to take her apart like he had with so many Salarians. _“Meridian is mine. I’ve tolerated you long enough. Once your vessels are destroyed you will be stranded here.”_

Sara activated her coms immediately. “Captain, fire the EMP! Right now!”

_“Done!”_

The ship shook as the EMP encased their guns. They could see them shutting down out the window, and the Archon’s holo disappeared. Alarms began blaring all around them, doors opened, and a roar nearby caught their attention.

The partially exalted Krogan they saw burst into the room. It had a gun and was roaring at them, charging them without a second thought, flanked by many Kett. It was a hard fight to leave the room, but one they eventually won out of pure anger.

“We need to go, right now!”

**“Pathfinder, I am picking up Krogan life signs on board the ship. They are scheduled for Exaltation.”**

“Could be the rest of Drack’s missing scouts!”

“Can we get there before the guns come back online?”

**“If you hurry.”**

“Alright.” Sara nodded, “Lets—”

 _“Ryder, come in. This is Raeka. I… I’m pinned down.”_ Raeka came in over her coms, sounding very scared. _“Don’t think I’m going to make it.”_

“Where are you?” Sara asked immediately.

_“Near holding cells where they’re keeping the last large group of my people. They’re still alive. I ordered Hayjer back to the Ark, they’re ready to escape, but…”_

“You should be with him Raeka.”

 _“I couldn’t leave my people. I had to try. And now… I think it’s over.”_ Sara scrubbed at her eyes, _“From one Pathfinder to another… farewell. Raeka out.”_

“Damn it.” Sara paced. She knew full well there wasn’t enough time to save both groups. 

“This might be our last chance to save the Krogan.”

“But Raeka’s a Pathfinder, we can’t leave her behind!”

Scott shook his head, “It’s your call Sara.”

She thought about it for a long few seconds. There wasn’t enough time, she needed more time; Sara wanted to help Drack and save his scouts, to prevent the Kett from having exalted Krogan. The Krogan had been through so much already. But Raeka was a Pathfinder, strong and cunning, and after all of this the Salarians— hell the entire Initiative— was going to need her leadership. And freeing the Salarians would force the Kett to pause their study on how to exalt the species.

“Reload.” She sighed, “We’re going to get Raeka.”

-

They found Raeka in a hallway surrounded by Kett she killed. They had to fight through Kett just to reach her, she had truly been stuck there. “Pathfinder… You came?”

“We couldn’t leave you here Raeka.” Sara placed her hand on Raeka’s shoulder in her best attempt to comfort her fellow Pathfinder. “We said we’d get your people out of here, and we meant it.”

“I… Thank you.” She breathed out a relieved sigh. “My people are at the end of the tunnel. It’s Kett the whole way.”

“Then we push ahead and don’t stop for anything. Lets go.”

It was too small a space for Sara to use her sniper. She was so angry, so tired, so horrified, that she acted before realizing it; Sara pulled out her shotgun and had SAM switch her to a Vanguard profile.

She’d never used her biotics like that before. At the same time, she wasn’t really thinking about it. She punched her way through alongside Cora and Scott’s biotics, while Raeka and Vetra picked off the stragglers. Sara didn’t know what she was doing, or how she was doing it, but she kept at it anyway. Her anger had very quickly turned to rage as they passed more labs and more bodies.

“Tempest, come in! This is Ryder!”

 _“I hear you Sara.”_ Kallo responded to her immediately. _“You don’t sound so good, are you…?”_

“I’m fine! We have the map, but we’re trying to rescue some prisoners!” Sara punched through three Kett at once, sending them flying.

 _“Those Kett guns won’t stay offline forever.”_ He told her worriedly.

“I know! We’re hurrying, I promise! Just tell me if anything changes!”

_“You’ll be the first to know.”_

They kept fighting, going and going until they reached the end of the corridor. They had finally made it; there were a lot of Salarians packed into a holding cell at the very end. Weak, but alive.

“Can you run?” Sara asked the first prisoner that came out.

“I think we can.”

**“Pathfinder, the Kett are close to restoring power.”**

“Tempest, we’re going topside. Track for extraction!”

_“Understood!”_

“Ryder…” Raeka seemed at a loss for words. “Thank you.”

“We look out for our own.” Sara told her, nodding firmly. “Come on.”

They led the Salarians to the very top of the ship. The Kett had a shield surrounding their ship that was very similar to a Mass Effect field, which was keeping them in stable orbit without descending into the gas giant. It was allowing them to run along the top of the ship without suffocating or flying away in zero G. They got everyone up top as the Tempest was flying in to recover them. “Everyone go! Move!” The Salarians made a run for the Tempest, which barely landed, allowing them enough time to jump on board.

_“Now Sara! We need to go!”_

As everyone got on, the Tempest lifted off. Sara was the last one onto the ramp, and watched as Ark Paarchero was moving away from the Archon’s warship. She ran inside as the ramp began to close, pushed her way through the prisoners that crowded into Docking, and went straight to the Bridge.

She watched out the window as Paarchero made the jump to FTL. The Tempest followed moments later; it was over. They had survived, and it was over.

Sara let out a huge sigh, leaning into her navigational panel. “Holy shit…” She breathed, gripping the console like it was here only anchor.

“Sara? Are you okay?” Kallo asked her worriedly. He wanted to stand but he had to fly the Tempest.

“Yeah…” She forced herself to stand up straight. “Suvi, put in a call to the Nexus, ask the militia to send an armed escort to ensure the Ark reaches Nexus safely. Kallo, coordinate with the Paarchero and land as soon as they’re out of FTL. There’s a lot of people down in Docking who need to get to a proper med bay.”

“Alright.”

Sara went back to the docking bay, where Lexi was checking over the most seriously injured Salarians. Raeka was talking to Scott when Sara called for her; she motioned for Raeka to follow her, so she climbed the ladder and followed Sara up to the meeting room where it was quiet.

“A team will escort the Ark back to the Nexus.” Sara explained to Raeka, “They’ll be happy to see you.”

“Thank you again, Ryder, but… I owe you an apology. I made a mistake.” There were a lot of emotions flashing across Raeka’s face. Relief, anger, sadness, happiness, regret.

“Oh?”

“I shouldn’t have called you to say goodbye.” Raeka shook her head, “The choice you had to make… I put too much on your shoulders.”

Sara managed a smile for Raeka, trying to ease her worries. “No Raeka, it’s okay. You did what you had to. If that had been the Hyperion and I was looking for my people, I’d have been the one calling you.”

“I appreciate that. As Pathfinders the line between serving our own people and the greater good is… blurry. I prefer a sharper focus.”

“I understand, believe me.” Sara shook her head. “It’s been a shit show, let me tell you. But Macen and my father can explain everything back on the Nexus.”

“They survived?” Raeka seemed a little more relieved upon hearing that news, “That’s good. What about Ishara? Ark Leusinia?”

“Ishara died trying to negotiate with the Kett. And her Second… we had to relieve her from command.” Sara told her, “But her replacement, Vederia, has a lot of potential. They’ll all be happy to see you.”

“I… see.” Raeka nodded. “Well, know that the Salarian people are forever in your debt. We are here for you, I swear it.” Raeka began to leave to return to docking, but she stopped abruptly; Drack was in her way, glaring hard at her. Sara hadn’t heard him coming up the ramp and had no idea how long he’d been there.

“Earn this.” He said simply before moving out of Raeka’s way.

“We will.” She promised with a firm nod. Then with a brief smile to Sara, she left the meeting room.

Sara leaned heavily into the center console. “Drack, I…”

“I heard what happened.” He told her, glaring just as hard at her as he had at Raeka. It was scary to say the least. “Wasn’t enough to save the whole Ark huh? Had to grab a few more Salarians on the way out. Leaving my scouts behind was worse than killing them outright! And you’re not the one who has to explain that to the clan.”

Sara hung her head low, unable to look at him at all. She closed her eyes and nodded once. “I… know. I know.” She let out a slow, shaking breath, trying so very hard not to cry. “I’m… sorry. I’m so sorry Drack.” She had no excuses for him, and she knew that. It had, in the end, been a choice. One she’d have to live with every day.

Drack didn’t answer her. Seemed to have no answer _for_ her. He just left her there, where she could faintly here the chatter of the Salarians below.

 **“A difficult choice, but you won an important victory today.”** SAM tried to comfort her in his own way. **“Your father will be proud.”**

“Yeah…” She sighed, “That just doesn’t matter anymore. And slapping the Archon in the face like that will only make him more dangerous.”

**“Or perhaps reckless. Your father liked putting others off balance. He said the worthy would rise above it and learn to face adversity.”**

“And… the unworthy?”

 **“Would crumble.”** Sara sighed again, **“I’ll leave you to your thoughts.”**

Sara took a few minutes to compose herself before going below and checking in on the Salarians. Soon the Tempest had caught up with Paarchero. The Ark stopped in safe space to make some final checks and repairs before making the jump to the Nexus. The Tempest docked with them briefly to transfer over the Salarians. They left just as quickly; the crew needed a break.

Sara didn’t even change out of her armor. She had no words for how she felt. Everything they’d seen clawed at her in her mind, she felt crushed and trapped with no escape. Finally she shut down her Tool and went to her room, locking the door behind her.

Sara Ryder crumbled.


	31. Crumble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara must try to rebuild herself after the horrors witnessed on the Archon's flagship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the game there is barely any reaction to what happens in the Hunting the Archon quest. I felt like Sara would have a very tough time with everything she saw and what she experienced. I really wanted to take some time to explore her mental state, both the fall and the rebuild.
> 
> Warning for: Emotional trauma, panic attacks, nightmares, depression

There was a heaviness on the ship that Kallo could quite nearly touch. No one was quite sure exactly what was going on; Sara, Scott, Cora and Vetra had all disappeared separately and no one had yet seen a mission statement. They had no idea exactly what had went on.

Kallo only knew one thing. He and Suvi got an alert when it was all said and done; Sara had been clinically dead for a few seconds.

He couldn’t decide whether he was elated that the Paarchero had been found, or upset by what finding it had seemingly done to the crew. To Sara. She hadn’t even returned to the Bridge, gave them no direction, so Kallo decided to take them back to the Nexus, just in case.

It was the longest flight of his life. Everyone was whispering about what might have happened, sharing the information they thought they knew, discussing what they thought was real and what they thought was fake. In the end the Tempest docked on the Nexus without a word, and people seemed to wander away without any real direction to them.

Kallo needed to finish systems checks, but he so desperately wanted to go check on Sara. She’d died, and he needed to know the details, needed to touch her and ensure she was really there. He narrowed the checks down to critical checks; the rest could wait.

Or, perhaps it couldn’t.

“Kallo?”

Kallo turned in his seat to Lexi’s voice. The doctor approached him, sparing no glances anywhere else, a concerned expression on her face. He’d never seen concern like that before.

“Lexi? What’s the matter?”

“I need your help.” She sighed. Kallo stood to face her, his concern beginning to rise. “Sara, she’s… she locked herself in her room without a medical examination. I’ve knocked and yelled, tried her coms, Scott even tried to get through to her. She’s not answering anyone.”

“That’s not like her.”

“No. I’m very concerned. Can you try and get her to answer you? We need something out of her. You… saw the alert?”

“Yeah.” He sighed. “Suvi, can you handle the checks?”

“Sure. Go ahead.”

“Thanks.” He followed Lexi out the door and down the ladder. Scott was standing in front of Sara’s door, pacing slightly, trying to figure out what he could do. He hadn’t washed up, and seemed shaken and scared, more than just for Sara’s sake.

He didn’t wait for Kallo to speak at all, “I tried her coms, pounded on the door, sent a mail. Nothing. Not even a response from SAM.”

Kallo didn’t bother to knock, he went straight to coms. “Sara?” He called, “Sara, it’s Kallo. We need you to open the door. Are you okay?” Nothing. Her room was completely soundproof, and they got no response over the coms. Not even static. “Sara?” He looked to Lexi, concerned and perplexed at the lack of response. “You’re sure she’s in there?”

“Yes.” Scott sighed heavily. “I’m… not surprised. What we saw…” Kallo was taken aback by the look in Scott’s eyes. The pure horror, terror, exhaustion. They really must have gone through something much worse than anything he’d imagined.

Lexi scrubbed at her eyes, “Damn those Kett bastards.”

It was then that Kallo got an idea. He had no idea if it would work, but he remembered how Sara had called for SAM on the Citadel, and he knew SAM’s function ensured he was always monitoring the Tempest in some way. “SAM?” He spoke to the ship, “I require an emergency response.”

There was silence at first, and he thought that maybe it didn’t work. But after a minute, he scored. A few crackles of static later, there was an answer. **“Hello Kallo. I apologize for being unavailable. My function has been solely focused on Sara.”**

They all breathed out a relieved sigh. Something had worked. “SAM, we need an update.” Kallo told him, “How is Sara? Is she injured in any way?”

**“Physically, Sara only suffered minor injuries on Archon’s ship. Cuts and bruises are the extent.”**

“That’s good…”

**“However, Sara is currently suffering extreme emotional trauma. She has refused all contact with me. I fear for her mental well being.”**

“We can’t leave her alone.” Lexi said immediately, “This is serious. Someone needs to watch her, help her through this.”

Scott didn’t seem at all surprised. In fact, SAM’s words seem to validate something he had expected the whole time. “SAM, can you open the door?” Kallo asked.

**“I can, but I recommend only one enters. Anything more will be too stressful. Mentally, Sara is barely holding together.”**

Kallo looked to Scott to determine what he wanted to do. He could see exactly what Scott wanted; he wanted to go in there and check on his sister. But there was a hesitancy as he looked to Kallo. Something Scott was debating within himself.

“You… you should be the one.” Scott told him. There was a quietness to his voice that was hard to pinpoint, or understand. “I can’t understand her like you do.”

“You sure Scott?”

“Yes. I… I need some time too. I can’t help her like this.”

Lexi handed him a small medical pack and some water she’d carried with her. Kallo was concerned for Scott, but agreed all the same. Someone needed to be with Sara.

“Open the door SAM.”

**“Very well.”**

The door opened to a dark room. Sara wasn’t visible, but they could hear angry muttering within. With a short glance, Kallo walked into her room, the door shutting and locking behind him.

Sara was pacing back and forth. The only light coming in was the faint glow from the Nexus that the shades didn’t completely block. The floor of her room was littered with her armor pieces and her guns. He noticed they were heavily stained in fresh Kett blood, with burn and bullet marks prominent. Had she not had strong barriers…

Kallo forced his eyes away from her armor, sickened just by the sight. Sara was still pacing, trying to work the final pieces of armor from her forearms and having no luck. Her hands were shaking and she couldn’t manipulate the buckles.

Kallo moved to intercept her, grabbing her hand to stop her. She did indeed stop, and her arms went limp as he began to work the buckles for her. She wouldn’t look at him, just stared at the floor. He couldn’t bring himself to say a word, his heart breaking for her. He got one of them off, then took her other hand to work the second. As he finished, Sara spotted something on the floor. Her gloves, soaked in blood.

All of the air rushed out of her lungs in a split second, and Kallo saw the horror engulfing her face; as if she was just realizing what she had seen, what she had heard, and what she had done. As if the world had crashed down on top of her. A terror that he hadn’t seen since the Citadel.

She seemed to lose all strength, falling back several steps into the wall behind her. Kallo dropped the last piece of armor and followed her, unsure of what he should do. Sara fell to her knees, her head in her hands, and she began to sob. Sara fell apart right there in front of him and he didn’t know how to fix it. He could tell she was both crying and panicking, and without anything else he could do he gathered her into his arms and held her tightly. She shook, screamed and sobbed for hours, and he stayed for every moment, trying— and failing— to not envision what she must have witnessed on the Archon’s ship. Whatever it was that put her in such a state was far worse than anything he could imagine.

The panic attacks came in waves. He could tell when they were starting, when she’d tense up and start breathing erratically. She’d hold onto Kallo like he was an anchor, her only connection to the world, sometimes so fiercely Kallo knew there’d be bruises on his arms. He didn’t mind, though; she was far more important. He kept the water ready and spoke softly for her. Speaking slowly was not something he was used too, he needed to consciously slow his words for her, but he did because he knew she needed him to. He did anything he could to get her to time her breaths with his words, to calm whatever it was that had frightened her so badly. With each panic attack he managed to pull her back out of it a little easier. 

In the short breaks between crying fits, Kallo helped her a little bit at a time. First he got her to her bed where she could be more comfortable, and he used a towel and the water to wipe the blood from her face and neck. There was bruising there, something that looked too much like claws. Someone had caught her by the neck and he was not happy about that. There was also a strange wound on the back of her neck, as if someone had stuck something into her. He pushed down every bit of anger, knowing anger would only stress her out more.

After another wave he was able to start cleaning the cuts from her battles. He used rubbing alcohol from the kit Lexi had given him; where most would flinch from the sting, Sara didn’t move, didn’t express anything, she just seemed to watch his hands. There was a deadness to her eyes when she wasn’t panicking, something so exhausted and so completely broken. In that moment he wanted nothing more than to fly her away from Heleus.

He managed to wrap the wounds he could find safely. Eventually she had cried so much she exhausted herself, so much so that she passed out without any will of her own. Kallo took the opportunity to gather up her armor and weapons and take them out of her room, hoping not having to see them would ease her when she woke back up. He briefly updated Lexi, but ensured he was back quickly. He didn’t want her waking up only to be alone.

Sara didn’t recall much of the following days. There wasn’t much for her to recall, except to know that Kallo was her saving grace. She slept in short increments, though even when she was awake she hardly moved unless coaxed into it by Kallo. Every so often she would say a few words to him, but they were few and far between; for the most part, Sara had completely shut down. Kallo felt lucky that he was able to convince her to take her medications and eat a few bites of food here and there. He briefly noticed that her hands shook a lot, and eventually he managed to get Sara to tell him about her increase in 1033 symptoms. That was a worry for another day.

Whenever Sara fell asleep, Kallo did many of her reports in her place. He didn’t want the work to pile up, and most were easy enough to accomplish. It was the least he could do after whatever had gone down. She was getting a lot of mail as well; thank yours from Paarchero and Leusinia survivors, encouragement from the crew to take her time, and Nexus leaders rather inconsiderately wondering where she’d disappeared to. 

The nightmares were tame at first. She hadn’t processed enough, hadn’t had enough time. It took a few days, time to build up before it got worse. The talking in her sleep, the panic attacks. A few days after getting to the Nexus, he was going through another report when it started. Sara’s breaths started coming faster, her limbs tensing up, her face contorting into a mixture of pain, fear and stress. She fisted her hands into the blankets and began to mutter in her sleep. Kallo dropped his task and went to her, waiting on the edge of her bed for when she woke up so he could calm her yet again.

He was startled when her words became sharp and perfectly clear, getting louder with each breath. She started curling in on herself with the words, calling for something that wasn’t there. Soon she started yelling in her sleep. “No.” She said over and over again, panicked and desperate. “No, don’t hurt him! Leave them alone! Don’t take him…” She began to cry in her sleep. He had noticed the pattern over the few days, tears only came from her right eye; her left eye, damaged at the Citadel, didn’t appear to be capable of shedding tears. Too much damage to fix, he determined absently. Just another reminder.

“Sara.” Kallo grabbed her shoulders and shook her when her words became more intense, trying to wake her without success. Her words got louder, and he grew more concerned. “Sara!”

“Please no! Don’t hurt them! _NO_!” With the final word— screamed at the top of her lungs— she bolted straight up, her eyes blowing wide, startling Kallo; he almost didn’t move back in time for her to not hit him.

Sara’s hands flew to her chest and her neck, feeling everywhere across her body as if she had been injured and finding nothing there. She looked terrified, her breaths ragged, her entire body shaking in fear. Kallo squeezed her shoulders, giving her something to focus on beside her own panic. “Sara? You’re safe love, it’s okay.”

Her hands fisted in her tank top, creating a barrier to her heart with her own arms. She wasn’t looking at his face, more towards his chest, her eyes darting just slightly. “The-the-the screams.” She muttered, “Screams, the screams. They were all dying, he was killing them, he-he… I-I-I couldn’t save them, we left them behind, we left them!”

Kallo tried to get her to look him in the eye. “Sara, you need to breathe. You saved them.”

“No I didn’t!” Her hands found their way to his arms, her grip tight, as if she was holding him for dear life. “We could hear them! They were screaming! And we left them! And he… He… hurt you.”

“What?”

She looked him in the eye, a death-grip on his arms. “He _killed you_!” Tears welled in her eye as she scanned his face, realizing that he really was there in front of her, safe.

Kallo moved his hands to gently cup her face, keeping her eyes locked to his. “No he didn’t.” He told her, “I’m here, you see? I’m right here.”

“I… I couldn’t-”

“You did everything you could.” He told her, kissing her forehead. “We’re all very proud of what you accomplished. You’ve done more than enough. It’s okay.” She started taking deeper breaths as he pressed his forehead into hers, her eyes closing after a minute. “They’re… safe. Safe in the infinite. It’s okay.”

Her grip loosened enough for him to move. He hugged her and let her breath, telling her to count her breaths, letting her calm. Letting her process. At some point he’d find out what had happened, but for now he simply followed his gut. Whatever it took to keep her calm. 

Sara started doing a little better after that night. The nightmares were still severe, the Archon’s ship somehow mixed in with the Citadel by her mind, but she was managing better when she was awake. She was finally getting up and moving around a little without Kallo’s insistence. She didn’t leave her room and still slept a lot, but she was up and moving and eating a little more. That in itself was progress.

Finally, after days, Scott sent out a full mission report to the Tempest crew. Those who hadn’t been there wanted to know what was up with the four that had gone in, so Scott sent them all the report to stop rumors. Kallo read through it as Sara slept.

It was horrific. Barbaric. Far worse than anything he thought could exist. And Sara, his Sara, had been right in the middle of it. She had been there, ground zero, at the mercy of Archon’s terror. Being Pathfinder was a job she was so hesitant to take, she wouldn’t have been prepared for what she’d seen. Kallo finally understood exactly what had broken her so completely.

He hadn’t heard her waking up or getting out of bed. It was when she walked over to him on the couch that he noticed her, a little startled in the process. He quickly hid the report from her view. 

“Hey love.” He smiled for her as comfortingly as possible. She brought her favorite blanket with her, wrapped around her arms like he was cold. She came to sit beside him and curled into his side. He wrapped his arm around her. “Need anything?”

Sara shook her head slowly, so he didn’t press her. He just held her and rubbed circles on the skin of her arm between the cuts that would eventually scar. 

“I know what you were reading.” She told him quietly. He wasn’t going to deny anything. “I know that look. It was… that bad.”

“I’m so sorry Sara.” He spoke quietly, “If we’d known…”

“We still would have had to go.” She shrugged, “Thousands of colonists needed rescuing. That doesn’t make up for the thousands we lost but… I guess people here needed to hope a little.”

“You’ve done that for them.” Kallo assured her. “Time and time again.”

“And yet here I am, falling apart.”

“It’s okay to take your time. Everyone who matters understands.” She wrapped her arms around him and snuggled in closer. At least he was able to comfort her. He held her with both arms. “You died.”

“Yeah.”

“No one just walks away from that, and we don’t expect you to. So you take your time. We’ll still be here.”

Sara was silent for awhile. Kallo wasn’t going to push her, he let her take her time. This was the most she’d spoken to him in days.

“It didn’t hurt, if that’s any consolation.” She muttered after awhile, “It was peaceful. It’s nice to know… for the future.”

“Just don’t go dying again anytime soon, please.”

“Sure.” She yawned a little. “You’re not mad that SAM… killed me?”

“I’m… shocked he could do that. I’d be upset if he did it again, but I’m not mad.” He promised, “He brought you back. That’s all that matters to me.”

“Scott would disagree. I think he’s mad at me. It was all… very sudden.”

“He’s not mad, I’m sure. He cares.”

“Have you heard from him? From Scott? Is he okay?”

“He told me he needed time to deal with what you guys saw, just like you need time. I don’t know where he is but he’s been checking in via mail, so I think he’s going to be fine.”

“What about Vetra? Cora?”

“Them too. The crew’s been wonderful. You don’t need to worry about a thing.”

“Hmm.” Sara shifted a little, made herself a bit more comfortable. “I thought about you. When I… died.”

“Really?”

“Mhm.” It was humbling to hear the words. That in the moment of her death, he was the one she’d thought about. That was something he’d never expected, and it was nothing if not sobering. How fleeting life could be. “Death has a way of making one realize just how important people are. Just how much I care, you know? Imagine, the Archon’s ship and there I am falling for the cliche’s.”

“You’re making jokes again.” He smiled and kissed the top of her head. “I like it when you talk, you know.”

She smiled back at him, just slightly, more relaxed than she had been since returning from the mission. It was a start.

Something out the window caught her eye. She leaned a little to look; Tann was out there on top of a box welcoming arrivals from Arks Paarchero and Leusinia. Seemed he had taken their words after finding Natanus seriously. “Ark Paarchero docked an hour ago.” Kallo told her.

“Safely?”

“Safely.”

“Good.” A lot of them were looking at the Tempest as they passed. Word must have gone around that her ship was the one that had found them. “I can’t go out there yet, Kal.”

“You don’t have to.” He promised, “Take your time.”

“I don’t think a Pathfinder is ever allowed time. People need me whether I’m okay or not.”

“They don’t need you right this second. Everyone needs a break.”

Sara didn’t seem to have any responses for him. Instead she adjusted once more before shutting her eyes and falling back into a shaky sleep. Kallo quietly continued to read, grateful that she’d been able to speak to him after so many days. It was progress, and that was all he needed.

-

It was several more days before Kallo felt like Sara was safe by herself.

It was upon her insistence, of course. The Tempest did need maintenance and reports needed doing. She couldn’t expect him to continue caring for her at all hours, even though he told her time and time again that it was really no trouble at all.

Finally though, he seemed convinced that he could leave for the urgent tasks. The panic attacks had faded, replaced with a deep exhaustion. It was the panic attacks he worried about, but since those had died down he grew more comfortable, especially as she promised to let him know if one did begin to build back up. She was conscious enough after the first few days to recognize the signs on her own.

Sara was stuck between being restless and being too exhausted to do much of anything. She wasn’t exactly sure how she could deal with that, either. She felt so shut down it was hard to think clearly. Those events had been the straw that broke the camel’s back, and she was lost in her own mind. She felt trapped, the hopes and dreams that once fueled her was now nothing but a cage. It was a job she was no longer confident she could complete.

Sara didn’t remember leaving the Tempest. She vaguely recalled writing a note for Kallo but she wasn’t sure. All she did know was that, without any realization beforehand, that she had ended up outside her father’s door, wearing Scott’s hoodie with the hood up, standing there in the silence of that little hallway.

Sara knocked without thinking about it. Her father was actually in, seemingly prepared to sleep. Sara had no idea what time it was. She vaguely noticed the braces around his legs and lower back, necessary after his injuries, things he would normally hide when he was on duty.

“Hey Sara.” He surely knew everything by now. He would have gotten the mission report. He took in the dark circles under her eyes and the disheveled hair she hid under the hoodie, the overall exhaustion that emanated from her, and understood.

Sara took one step inside his apartment, just enough for the door to close. She wouldn’t look at his face, didn’t even look him in the eye. “Dad, I don’t think… I… I-I can’t be a Pathfinder anymore.”


	32. Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara questions whether she is capable of continuing the work of a Pathfinder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emotions must be handled. It's really nice to explore this with Sara!

Sara had no clue what had compelled her to see her father. She didn’t expect much out of him, she certainly didn’t expect to receive any form of comfort, but yet there she was.

And, shockingly enough, he was exceedingly patient. Sara paced his room, screamed in anger, talked through everything that had gone wrong in excruciating detail. She would go from anger to tears in moments without any hesitancy, she had no control over her emotions. She was angry, so angry, and Alec hung on every word. 

She yelled about the mission. She raged about the Kett, and complained about the Initiative Directors. She let out everything she had, even vile comments she’d never say if she was in her right mind. Things she would never, ever, say in front of Kallo. The last thing she wanted was to crush his optimism.

It seemed that Alec recognized that she was not in her right mind. Had she been able to pay attention to that fact, she’d have likely appreciated it much more than what she showed.

Finally, she exhausted herself and collapsed onto his couch. She laid there and threw her arm over her eyes to block the light, feeling a massive headache coming on. 

“That all?” He asked from his office chair.

“Shit.” She muttered under her breath.

“Uh-huh.”

“And you know the best part? I can’t even be mad that SAM literally killed me. Figured that would have more of an impact but after everything else… I don’t know. Just doesn’t seem to matter.”

“He brought you back, that’s what counts.”

Sara grunted a little in annoyance, shaking her head. “I can’t carry this.” She told him, “I thought I could play the part and fool everyone into thinking I was capable. But damn it all, I’m not. I don’t know what I’m doing out there. So many hopes and dreams, so many lost souls kicked off the Nexus, and I can’t carry them.” She let out a breath, sitting up and pushing her head into her hands. “You made a mistake. I’m not the one the Initiative needs. They need Pathfinders like Raeka and Macen and Ishara. Not me.”

Her father was silent for a short time. It was quiet, only the hum of his computer keeping them company. She wasn’t sure what she expected. She didn’t know what she wanted to hear.

“You’re right.” Sara looked to him when he said the words. He seemed sincere, looking her in the eye. There was something there… something she couldn’t place. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes. I shouldn’t have pushed the implant onto you, I shouldn’t have pushed you into being a Pathfinder, and I should have checked in more often while you were out there fighting for us. I’m sorry for that.” There was guilt on his face. True guilt. She had never, in her life, seen that before. 

And she surprised herself upon realizing that the words he’d said didn’t seem to be the words she’d wanted to hear. 

“My first battle, I watched one of my long time friends being killed point-blank. His chest exploded, just like that.” He began with a hush to his voice, “You know what I did after everything was over? I found the darkest corner, as far from everyone else as I could get, and I cried.”

“You?”

“Yes.” He shook his head slowly, “I wanted to quit. I wanted to go back home and forget I’d ever gone into space, forget I’d ever wanted to explore the unknown. I thought to myself, ‘I’m not good enough for this. I made a mistake coming out here.’ I called home that night. And you know what my mother said to me?”

“What?”

“She said ‘It’s okay if you come home. But think, who will you be if you return? And who will you be if you remain?’ I thought about those words for a long time. They’re the reason I stayed, and the reason I continued to fight. I wanted to improve. I wanted to be able to say I could do it, that I could protect humanity. I realized how important it was. I stayed because if I went back, I wouldn’t have been able to protect the things that were important to me. If I’d gone back I’d have spent my life… well, I don’t know what I would have done. But going back would have meant abandoning everything I’d ever wanted and worked for.”

“It’s hard to see you working in a shop somewhere.”

“That’s exactly the point.” He chuckled. “You know something Sara? You’re a lot of things. You’re intelligent and passionate and determined and you dream big. The last thing you are is a quitter.” She sat up just a little bit straighter as she listened. “I’ve seen you fight your way out of a hospital bed because you wanted to learn. I’ve seen you advancing through your education at the top of your game, I’ve seen you in dance competitions when so many people said you’d never be able to continue it. You’ve continued forward despite the world telling you you couldn’t, or shouldn’t.” He smiled for her, something softer than anything she was expecting. “You’ve had every reason to quit before. You never did. Why didn’t you?”

Sara thought about that for a minute. There were a lot of reasons, sure, but few of them seemed to actually matter. 

“To prove that I could be someone. To prove I wasn’t defined by a short lifespan. To prove that I mattered. Sure I wanted to help people but… it wasn’t without a personal stake.”

Alec nodded once. “Then maybe it’s not because you can’t. Maybe all you need is something new to fight for. Something more important, perhaps. A new reason.”

“Hmm.”

“Sara, if you want to pass on the role I’ll figure out a way to disconnect you from SAM without damaging your brain. I’ll find a way, I’ll do that for you. But… think. Who will be if you leave? And who will you be if you stay? I just want you to consider it.”

Sara let out a long sigh, hanging her head for a moment. Now that she was calming down a little her thoughts were coming back into focus. His words were as authoritative as they’d always been, but he was trying, she could recognize that. “I… should get back. I don’t want Kallo to worry.”

Alec smiled wider, noticeably relaxing. “Kallo, huh. You care about him.”

“Very much so.” She nodded, standing up and taking a deep breath. “More than… anything.”

“Good. I’m glad you two have each other.” He stood to follow Sara to the door. She stopped briefly, and he pat her shoulder in his best attempt to be comforting. “Take care of yourself, Sara. Things will get better.”

“Thanks dad.” She tried to smile, and she wasn’t sure if she pulled it off or not. “Sorry. I didn’t actually mean to yell so much, if you can believe that.” He laughed a little at that.

“Don’t worry about it. Better out than in, as they say.” 

“Heh. You still have to work on your shitty jokes.” 

“As always.” He grinned, “Go on. I’ll… start checking in more often, if that’s alright.”

“Sure.” She nodded, giving him a tiny wave as she left. He stood at the door until she was out of sight, only shutting it when he knew she hadn’t turned back around.

-

Sara remembered this walk, going back to the Tempest. She was thankful that it was quiet. Halls were quiet, trams were mostly empty, and no one seemed to really spare her any glances. 

Sara was at the docking bay nearly to the Tempest when she was stopped by her name being called. Sara didn’t recognize the voice, but she stopped all the same. There was a small crowd that had been there looking to the Tempest, mostly composed of Salarians and Asari. Upon her stopping they approached her with smiles on their faces. Sara was not thrilled that they had noticed her but she did her best to not show it.

“It’s you, right? Pathfinder Ryder?” One of the Salarians asked her.

“That’s me.” She did her best to smile, “Something wrong sir?”

“Not at all!” They all grinned wide, and the Salarian shook her hand eagerly. “We just wanted to thank you. We heard what you did for us, for Arks Paarchero and Leusinia.”

“You saved our lives Pathfinder!”

“We never would have reached the Nexus without your help.”

Sara couldn’t help the little blush that rose in her cheeks, “I… didn’t do much.” She told them, “My crew are the ones who deserve your praise.”

“It was all of you. Without you we’d still be lost to space. We owe you everything!”

“I’m going to deploy at your next Outpost Pathfinder!”

“You’ve given us a reason to hope.”

“I’ll never forget what happened on the Paarchero, but we have a future now because of you.”

“It still seems tough, but I’m sure we’ll make it through with you leading the way.”

Sara blinked at all of them, honestly shocked by their words. It wasn’t something she’d thought about since returning from the Paarchero. She hadn’t even considered it.

“Well, I… thank you.” It was hard for her to give them the smile she wanted to, but she tried. There seemed to be a general understanding among the group. “I know it’s tough right now, but things will get better. We have a strong footing here and it’ll only grow. If you work hard and work together, the Kett can’t stop you. Chins up, we’re going to make it.”

“I know we will.” They all seemed so happy and grateful, “We’re proud to be here Pathfinder. Thank you.”

The group was extremely considerate, and they all dispersed without taking up too much more of her time. She hummed in thought, just a little bit, as she continued on to the Tempest. No, she hadn’t considered their reactions at all. She hadn’t had enough presence of mind to do so.

Sara returned to a seemingly empty Tempest. She wasn’t entirely sure what she wanted to do or what she was looking for. She felt lost, just wandering, with no direction to go off of. She was going to go back to her room before she heard his voice; upon looking up to the second level she could see Kallo up at the drive core. Seemed he was the only one on board, talking to someone else over coms. Sara climbed the ladder and quietly went to the doors of the drive core. Kallo was pacing slightly back and forth, data pad in one hand, chatting over coms.

_“The crew’s nervous but we’re as ready as we’ll ever be.”_

“You’ll be fine.” Kallo assured whoever was on the other end, “Just follow our Scourge charts and avoid Kadara, piece of cake.”

 _“When you say it, I believe it.”_ Sara waited patiently at the door, allowing herself to rest against the frame. Kallo seemed to hear her shuffle; he turned to look and smiled wide when he saw her there. _“You think our Pathfinder can help Kadara? I got friends there.”_

“Anything’s possible.” Kallo told him. “Fly safe Lee.”

_“Thanks Ace.”_

Kallo shut off his coms and faced Sara fully. She couldn’t help but smile, “Ace?”

“Yeah.” He chuckled, “Some of the other pilots thought the nickname was appropriate. Bit cliche’, but I think that’s why they use it.”

“Heh. I like it.” 

“Me too.” He grinned, “I just refuse to tell them that.” That generated a quiet giggle from Sara, considerable progress from the last few days and he knew it. “How are you doing?”

“I’m… not sure?” She shrugged, “Don’t really remember leaving the Tempest. Ended up at my father’s door, of all places.”

Kallo had this soft look to his eyes, very patient. “I know. You left a note.”

“I did?” Kallo showed her the note she’d left, which simply read _‘I’m going to go yell at someone very specific. I’ll be back.’_ Seemed she did mean to yell that much. Go figure. “Huh. I don’t remember writing that.”

“Wasn’t hard to figure it out.” He told her, offering his hand. She took it immediately, his touch endlessly comforting. “You look better.”

“I don’t know if I am, but... we’ll see.” Sara reached for his other hand, and Kallo quickly put down his datapad to take it. “I want you to know that I’m sorry. For all this.”

“Sorry?” He asked in confusion, “Why? You’ve been through a lot.”

“I just am.” She shrugged, “I’m sure the crew needed their Pathfinder. Cora and Vetra and Scott… hell, everyone after the report came out. People on the Nexus too, the other Pathfinders, Raeka, Ark survivors. But I haven’t been there for anyone. I don’t remember much of the past days but I know I kept you away from your work and worried you and—”

“ _Sara_.” Kallo stopped her with that smile on his face, “For once in your life, stop worrying. Everyone is fine, including me. You saw some terrible things and it’s okay to need help recovering from it.”

It was hard for her to recall most of what had gone on. It was a mess of nightmares and exhaustion and panic, a whole lot of red with only a few memories in between. A smile did spread across her face, though, as she thought about one of the very few things she remembered.

“You called me ‘love’.” She recalled with a great warmth. Kallo had a look on his face and it wasn’t embarrassment; nervousness hit much closer to the mark. “Several times, I think.”

“Yeah. Wasn’t sure if you’d noticed or not.” He squeezed her hands, “We Salarians tend to process things quickly, you know that. It seemed… I’d hoped it would calm you down. Something new to focus on, I don’t know.”

Sara couldn’t help the little giggle that escaped her, “I see.” She hugged him— a real hug— for the first time since returning from the Paarchero. Something that wasn’t desperate, instead it was warm and mutually comforting. “I liked it. I liked it a lot, in fact.”

Kallo kissed the top of her head, “I’m glad.”

-

Scott came back to the Tempest when it was quiet, when hardly anyone was around. Sara met him out on the landing platform and immediately gave him a tight hug. It was nice to have him back.

“Hey Scotty.”

“Hi Sara.” He smiled, seemingly tired but not terribly so. “You’re out and about?”

“A little bit.” The two walked to the edge of the platform where they could talk privately. “Where’d you go? I wasn’t sure how to contact you.”

“I… needed some time.” He told her, “I stayed with Tiran.”

Sara blinked and raised a brow, “Tiran Kandros?”

“Yeah.”

“I… wow. Okay. Wasn’t expecting that answer.” Scott shrugged his shoulders with amusement in his eyes, “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you Scotty.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you, either. We weren’t what we needed. We both needed time to process.”

“I’m glad you took the time you needed. Kandros knows?”

“Yeah. I didn’t know where else to go. Being on the Tempest was…” Scott sighed, “Too much. He helped me write up a report on what happened.”

“Okay, I gotta ask.” She smiled at him, “You and Kandros. You two dating?”

“I…” Scott chuckled nervously, “Think so? Maybe?”

“What do you mean maybe?”

“Things are busy. But we… kissed. Once.”

“I knew it! You always were into Turians.” Sara grinned, “Scott you’re not the one night stand type. If you kissed, you’re a thing.”

“I… yeah.” She chuckled again, “I guess so. At least I hope so.” He had this soft smile to his face that Sara found absolutely adorable, “Maybe when things calm down the two of us will figure it out ‘officially’ but…”

“You care about him?”

“Yeah.”

“Then that’s all that matters.” Sara pat his shoulder. “I’m happy for you Scotty. Wish I could give you guys some actual time.”

“Things will calm down eventually. We’ll just have to be patient.” Scott smirked at her, “Not like you and Kallo, apparently. It’s always full speed ahead with you, huh?”

Sara snorted, “No comment.”

“Spoil-sport.” He threw his arm over Sara’s shoulders. “It’ll get better. You know that, right?”

“I sure hope so.”

Scott was quiet for a short time, hugging her a little tighter. “You really scared me.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“Why did you let SAM kill you sis?”

“What other choice did we have?” She asked him, “I wasn’t going to let the Archon experiment on you guys. He would have.”

“I… can’t fault you for that choice. I just care a lot more about you than I care about me.”

“Well I care a lot more about _you_ than I care about me.” Sara told him with a small smile. 

“Well, glad we cleared that up.” He snorted.

Sara shifted a bit, seemingly uncomfortable, enough for Scott to know something was on her mind. “I’m not sure I can go back out there.” She told him after awhile.

“I don’t really blame you. People like me, Vetra, Cora, we’ve seen shit before. And we know how to deal with it. You’ve never been with the military, you were thrust into this. I understand.”

“I don’t know what to do.” She confided.

“We’ll help you figure it out. That’s a promise sis.” Sara’s Tool began to beep with an urgent message. Scott glared at it a little, but Sara knew she needed to take a look. There was a single message left there for her:

_Pathfinder Ryder,_

_We need to talk._

_\- Director Tann_

“Seems not everyone is as considerate.” Sara sighed, “I’ve been avoiding Tann like the plague.”

“But?”

“But it wouldn’t have come through my Tool if it wasn’t urgent.” She grumbled, “God damn it.”

“Want me to walk you over there?”

“I… don’t think that’ll be smart. The Directors don’t know what’s going on, so far as I’m aware. I’d rather avoid the questions.”

“Okay.” Scott smiled for her, “Want me to tell Kallo?”

“Please.” She sighed and stood, “I need to get this over with.”

“Good luck.”

“Ha.” She deadpanned, “Thanks, but when it comes to the clowns up top, there’s no such thing as luck.”


	33. Confidence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The attempted return to normal life leaves Sara unsure of her own future.

“Of course you approve. Ryder saved your people.”

“Ryder saved _our_ people. It doesn’t matter if they were Salarians, they were citizens of the Initiative.”

“But it doesn’t hurt if there’s a few less _Krogan_ around, does it?”

Sara could hear Tann and Kesh arguing the moment she walked into Pathfinder HQ. She stopped briefly; Tann’s aide gave her a sympathetic look and didn’t say a word to ensure the Directors weren’t tipped off that she was there. Sara took a deep breath; this was going to suck.

She took the moment to calm herself and straighten her jacket before walking up the ramps. Tann and Kesh were still arguing, but Addison noticed her immediately. She cleared her throat, “The Pathfinder.” She indicated Sara as she approached. Kandros made his way over too, seemingly glad the argument was over.

“Ryder.” Kesh acknowledged her first, “We were discussing how things ended with the Archon.”

“Kesh, I…” Sara sighed, “It’s true I had to leave some Krogan behind. I’m deeply sorry about that. If I could have gone back in believe me, I would have.”

“You’ve already done your part for us.” Kesh nodded, “That’s more than I can say for _others_.”

“Yet you know I have to question what we gained provoking the Archon like this.” Kandros shook his head, “As much as I admire what you’ve done for us, you found the Ark by chance.”

“True. The Archon had a map showing the location of Meridian, the heart of the Vault network. A map we now posses.” She brought up a holo for them trying to prove her point, “Based on what we’ve seen from the other Vaults, particularly Elaaden and Eos, activating Meridian will allow us to terraform remaining worlds. I theorize that all Vaults will at least partially activate if we can get there.”

“Based on what data?” Tann asked, “This is all alien science.”

“So was the Prothean science humanity found on Mars, and that propelled us to the stars. The Citadel was new to all of our people once reached. The Vault on Aya suggests that Meridian is powerful, too powerful for us to allow the Archon to have it.”

“Ryder, I really want to believe you.” Kandros told her, “But we’re not equipped for a war with the Kett. They’ll be defending Meridian with everything they’ve got.”

Sara shook her head, “The fights coming whether you like it or not. A big fight. The Archon means to Exalt us all, and they’re well on their way to figuring out how to do it.”

“It’s better to focus on the Outposts.” Addison chimed in, “If the Kett attack, at least our people wont all be on one place.”

“And if the Archon damages Meridian in his studies, he could potentially destabilize the worlds we’ve colonized. He’s already damaged Remnant tech trying to solve its mysteries.” Sara tried to explain, “The Outposts wont matter anymore.”

“Based on theory only Ryder, we don’t know exactly what Meridian can do.”

“Well—”

“Then there’s this SAM of yours. We took a chance letting AI get involved.” Kesh told her, “Frankly, I’m uncomfortable with just how involved it’s become.”

“Y-yes, I—”

“The Initiative doesn’t have the resources for this.”

“I—”

“We can’t risk thousands of lives on theoretics. I’m sorry Ryder, but we can’t support you.”

Sara didn’t know how to push back, or really how to respond. It was still so hard for her to think on her feet, and their pressure didn’t help. They were so focused on the Outposts, too focused, to see the big picture. It was hard to not feel just a little bit small.

“Then I will.”

Sara was shocked to hear Raeka’s voice. She came up the ramp behind them; how long she’d been listening was up for debate, but she stood there proudly, giving Sara an encouraging smile.

“And so will I.” Vaderia bounded up the ramp just behind Raeka, also taking a firm stance. Avitus and Macen were on her heels.

“We do, too.”

And behind them all, to Sara’s shock, her father came to stand with them, his arms crossed and his eyes speaking volumes, his cane near forgotten. A silent defender.

Raeka looked at Tann specifically, “Ryder deserves a chance to try.”

“I applaud the gesture.” Tann said, “But you answer to me. I hope you understand.”

The Pathfinders were not happy about that, not in the slightest. “Sara’s the only reason the Initiative is still here, the only reason any of us are standing here. You still have your authority because of her actions, _Director_.” Macen could not have sounded more displeased. “You won’t at least give her a chance? You’ve given her nothing but walls to climb. What’s it going to take for you to trust her word?”

“This isn’t about Ryder or her actions.” Tann told them pointedly, “It’s not called the ‘Pathfinder Initiative’. The chain of command has to be respected.” He waved his hand dismissively, “That is all.”

The Pathfinders really didn’t have anything they could do, so Macen waved for Sara to follow them away. Sara moved to join them instantly, “Forgive me, Tann, for not having any faith in a leader I have yet to see lead.” She shot him a _look_ , a very specific look, before leaving with her fellow Pathfinders, out of Pathfinder HQ and towards the trams.

“Those stuck up bureaucrats.” Avitus grumbled, pacing where they’d stopped just before the trams, away from the stray ear. “I can’t believe it. If I were still a Spectre I’d have punched Tann in the face.”

“We heard everything, Pathfinder.” Raeka told her.

“I… shouldn’t be surprised.” Sara sighed, “I don’t exactly have a plan B.”

“Your plan is worth the fight though!” Vaderia assured her. 

“There may be a way.” Raeka hummed in thought, “The tech lab, they’ll help us.”

“I’m concerned that if I do this, they’ll replace me as Pathfinder.” Sara shook her head, “I would hate to drag any of you or our Scientists into that mess.”

“Ha!” Macen pat her shoulder, “If they tried to replace you they’d have a lot of rioters on their hands. They wouldn’t dare, trust me.”

“Macen’s right.” Alec nodded firmly, “We need to do this with or without their approval. In times like these with an enemy as powerful as the Kett, we must take action. To the tech lab?”

“Yes. They might have some ideas for us.”

They went to the trams, with Macen almost literally dragging Sara along with them. She didn’t want to involve them and they knew it, but they also insisted. She was rather glad they didn’t ask her a single question about her absence since Paarchero’s rescue; there seemed to be, in its place, a firm understanding. They were all nothing if not compassionate and patient, even as Sara lost her words. 

Their Scientists were eager to help. A little too eager, so far as Sara was concerned, but they showed the same compassion as her fellow Pathfinders did.

“So we need some way to draw the Kett away from the Tempest.” Aridana nodded thoughtfully. “Smart in theory, but in practice…”

“The Kett are highly advanced, of course.” Herik hummed, “It would require something stealthy, something they cant detect easily.”

Sara had sat herself on the table, listening quietly, trying to quiet her stray thoughts. “The Tempest is small.” She muttered, too quiet in contrast to her normal theoretic discussions, “Kallo would only need a small window to get us in. But even a small window… that’s a challenge. The Kett will recognize our ship the moment we enter Meridian’s airspace.”

“So what we need is a way to make the Kett believe the Tempest is somewhere else.” Alec finished for her; Sara nodded a little in response.

“What if… our ships could broadcast fake returns that look identical to the Tempest?” Vaderia suggested.

“The Tempest is a unique ship. That would require technology created from scratch.”

“We don’t know that the Tempest’s returns can be replicated in the first place.”

Sara thought about the idea silently. She had the returns memorized, but replicating them? A whole different ballpark. She hummed quietly in thought and noticed, in the back of the room, there was a blank holo-board. Sara stood up and went to the board without any of the others even noticing, too wrapped up in their discussion. 

“Theoretically, if this did work, we’d need to be able to broadcast it from whatever ship we have on the day. Whatever’s available can vary wildly.”

“And it would need to be highly adaptable and portable. We need to give the fake ships time to escape the Kett’s forces.”

“It would confuse their sensors and draw them off, if it works.”

Sara tuned out their discussion completely. Her Mathematician’s mind kicked in as she ran the scenario in her head. She realized it rather suddenly; this was something she could calculate. She could calculate the difference in speed, mass, weight and size between the Tempest and, for argument’s sake, a standard stock shuttle.

She could do this.

Sara began writing out her calculations on the holo-board, quietly talking bits and pieces through aloud as she wrote in lines and corrected numbers here and there. All her other concerns and worries and fears faded away as she simply thought through the numbers, allowed them to fill her mind like an intricate puzzle, something she was very good at.

Sara didn’t notice the room growing absolutely silent. She continued through her calculations, crossing out lines that didn’t work, highlighting the ones that did. It took some time but after awhile, the holo-board was completely filled up with her calculations, the final equalization of returns at the very bottom. She took a step back and looked them over, mentally checking for errors; there were none that she could see. “It’s viable.” She muttered to herself, a smile coming to her face. “It’s viable.”

“Well would you look at that.” Lucan laughed, snapping her out of her concentration. She turned only to find that everyone in the room had gone silent so that she could finish her calculations without disruption, just watching with hope in their eyes. “Our local genius strikes again!”

“Could you calculate that out for any ship?” Avitus asked her. “It doesn’t have to be specific?”

“I… yes. Of course I could, it’s a very simple conversion.”

“That’s brilliant!” 

“You sure you can’t come and work here in the tech lab with us full time?” Lucan joked. Sara couldn’t help the blush that rose to her face, diverting her gaze in slight embarrassment and putting the pen back where she found it.

“If only the world were so perfect.” She told him, looking back to her calculations. “Problem is that this will take a lot of resources. Resources we don’t have right now. As for time… well, we’d need to research it, then build the thing, then run theoretical tests…”

“But it will work.”

“Yes. I think so.”

“Then that’s all we need to know.” Raeka nodded, “You send us a list of the resources this will require. We can all work at it while we’re out in the field.”

“But what about the Archon?”

“By my understanding, he doesn’t know how to use Meridian, right?” Alec asked. Sara nodded, “Then we have time. He wont risk destroying Meridian until he knows exactly what to do with it. He needs it as a weapon.”

“This also means going against the Initiative. We’ll have no support.” She looked to their Scientists, “Pretend you guys didn’t hear that.”

“Hear what?” Aridana asked, innocent as could be, “We’ve been collating gamma charts all day.”

“The risk comes with the job.” Avitus shrugged.

Macen nodded in agreement, “It’s part of being a Pathfinder.”

“Sure, if they paid us once in a while.” Sara muttered.

“Not likely after this, but one can dream right?” Raeka chuckled.

“What do you want us to call this so the Directors don’t catch on?” Herik asked.

“Hmm…” Vaderia hummed, “How about ‘Ghost Storm’?”

“That works.” Everyone agreed. When so short a time ago they had nothing, they now had something of a solid plan; and Sara wasn’t exactly sure how she’d gotten dragged into it.

Eventually they dispersed. There was always one more thing that needed to be done. Sara was the last to leave the Tech lab, taking a little time to assist their Scientists in further, unrelated calculations while she was there.

Sara walked outside into the artificial light. Out there, at the railing, was Raeka. She seemed to be waiting patiently, only turning when she heard the door to the tech lab opening.

“Ah, Ryder.” She smiled and stood straight. Sara went to her and shook Raeka’s hand when it was offered to her. “I’d hoped we could chat now that things have calmed down.” She leaned into the rail again with an easy-going smile on her face, something very pleasant and comforting.

“Yes, I’m… sorry I wasn’t around to assist the Salarians when the Paarchero docked.”

“Oh, think nothing of it Ryder.” Raeka told her, “We are resilient. It will take much more than the Kett to destroy us. We’re settling in well on the Nexus.”

“That’s good.” She nodded, giving Raeka a small smile. “It’s Sara, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course.” Raeka seemed to be at complete peace, “I wanted to ask how you were doing. I’ve heard much about you and your brother from your father. I knew since the beginning that things must have gone terribly wrong for your father to give you the role.”

Sara furrowed her brows, “He talked about us?”

“Absolutely, quite often in fact. He bragged about the both of you. Yet I can fully understand why that would surprise you.” Raeka chuckled, “Mathematician, as I recall?”

“Yes.”

“So I’m sure the Ark was very difficult for you. I didn’t want to pressure you in any way.”

“…Thank you.” Sara did her best to retain her smile, “I’m doing my best, at the moment.”

“That’s all anyone can expect.” She nodded solemnly. 

“And you?”

“I am coming to terms with what happened. We will endure. We have to.” Sara nodded once, understanding completely. “I was curious about something. You mentioned Sur’Kesh back on the Ark.”

“Yes.” Sara motioned out the the Tempest, clearly in their view. “I was working with the Initiative years before launch. Built the Tempest with my own two hands. I was living on Sur’Kesh in that time.”

“So you understand.”

“I try to. It’s funny… I felt more at home on Sur’Kesh than I ever did on Earth.”

“I will admit, it’s comforting to hear that from you.” Raeka told her, “I’m glad you found us when you did. I still struggle to justify your decision to save my life. I will do my best to ensure it was worth it.”

“Raeka, you are not at fault for the decision I made.” Sara assured her, “We’re in this together. All us Pathfinders are.”

“Yes. Yes we are. Even against our Directors.”

Sara looked at her face and saw a flash of something, something that was hard to place but clicked in her mind; “You guys were trying to help me rebuild my confidence.” She realized.

“You caught us.” Raeka nodded with a chuckled, “We Pathfinders must support one another. We’d hoped that some voices on your side would make things easier, maybe soften up Tann a little. And your father was… concerned. You saved our lives, Sara. So far as I’m concerned we owe you for far more than moral support. I am at your disposal.”

She shook her head, “My disposal? Not by a long shot. There is no one who owes me anything, and I don’t expect anything.”

“Unfortunately for you, none of us see it that way.” Raeka grinned over at her, “So you better get used to that fact.”

Sara snorted, and couldn’t help the amusement that rose to her face, “My father talked about you, you know.”

“Oh yeah?”

“I believe his exact words were ‘Zevin Raeka could kick my ass, no questions asked’. I’m starting to see his point.” Raeka burst out laughing, and it was absolutely infectious. 

“That stubborn old man.” Raeka joked fondly, “I’ll have to milk that lovely statement a little, oh to see his face when I bring it up.”

“Ha! I’ll take pictures.”

Raeka’s Tool beeped. Always one more thing to do. She stood straight without looking at it, “It’s time I went back. But I want you to know, we are here for you Pathfinder. And we believe in your plan. Anything you need.”

“Thank you Raeka.” Sara smiled, “That means a lot.”

“We’ll ensure that it does.” With a grin and a wave, Raeka left to continue her duties. Sara couldn’t have been more relieved that Raeka was handling everything that had happened so well. It was a huge weight off her shoulders to know they were adjusting.

Sara made her way back to the Tempest, intending to go find Kallo. Instead as she neared the ramp she could hear voices, those of her crew, all emanating from the cargo bay.

“Well we have to do something!”

Sara stopped short of the ramp where no one would see her, listening to the words that came down.

“Sara’s our Pathfinder, we can’t just do nothing.” Liam insisted.

“Sara’s lost her confidence, can’t you see that?” Scott sighed, “We can’t force her back out into the field.”

“That’s exactly why we need to help her _rebuild_ her confidence. There’s not a lot of room in Andromeda for second thoughts. You heard the message we got!”

“Forcing her to go back out there will do more harm than good.” Kallo told him.

“Then lets just ask her and let her decide! I think everyone wants some closure. This is the perfect starting point. Something to get her back on her feet.”

“I would admit to wanting closure.” Vetra said, “But we’re not forcing her into it.”

“Frankly, the Initiative stills needs her. We have to try something, anything.”

Sara sighed to herself as she listened. She knew she was holding them back, but she was still so unsure about keeping the role. It was hard to think about it, even harder to admit it, but she didn’t know what to do.

She decided to bite the bullet and walked up the ramp of the Tempest. The conversation came to a dead halt immediately. Every single crew member was there in cargo; even Drack, though he wasn’t talking as he normally would be. 

“Pathfinder!” Liam grinned at her, “Something really interesting came through, you’ve gotta hear this.”

“Liam…” Kallo warned him with his tone, and Sara was honestly touched at the level of protectiveness that came with it.

“Lighten up Kallo, there’s no harm in asking.” Liam turned back to her, and she did her best to give him a calm smile. She had no idea if she’d succeeded.

“What do you want me to hear, Liam?” She asked him.

“This message got sent to the Tempest while you were out.” He powered up his Tool for her to listen.

_“Hello Ryder. I don’t think the Salarian Ark was captured by chance. If you want to know more, meet me at these coordinates.”_

“That’s it.” Liam told her, powering down his Tool again. “You were there. Was anything strange or out of place maybe?”

“Yeah. Every damn thing.” She told him, “What do you want me to do about this?”

“Investigate it of course!” He said.

“I still think it’s a hoax.” Scott shook his head.

Sara hummed, “Well… A Kett armada just stumbling upon the Ark does seem a little too convenient.”

“See, you’re thinking it through.” Liam grinned at her, “Lets go take a look, figure out whats what. If it’s nothing we can come back.”

“And if it _is_ something?” She asked him.

“Then we deal with it. It’s what we do.”

Sara looked to Scott, Vetra and Cora. “You guys were there too. What do you want to do about this?”

“Honestly?” Cora asked. Sara nodded to her, “After all that… closure would be nice.”

“If it’s legit.” Vetra chimed in, “If someone’s trying to pull one over on us…”

“We have to check.”

Sara took a deep breath. She was not comfortable leaving the Nexus, not at all. Too many thoughts still clawed at the back of her mind and she wasn’t exactly sure how to deal with that. And yet, at the same time, her crew wanted closure. And maybe closure would help her come to terms with what had happened. She didn’t know if it would help, but she knew logically that despite the discomfort she needed to try. If nothing else, for her crew’s sake.

“We’ll… head out tomorrow. 0700 hours.”

“Yes!” Liam cheered, “Mystery awaits!”

Kallo and Scott both looked concerned, but Sara silently shook her head; they needed to try.

She needed to try.


	34. Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara and crew set out to solve a mystery so terrible it's almost too difficult for Sara to handle.

Sara watched their flight through space from her room. She still was not comfortable with this, and the closer they get to Havarl the more nervous she became. But she also knew, there came a time to conqueror fear. She had to try.

Scott knew what she needed without her needing to ask. He brought her weapons and her armor to her room where she could get suited up in privacy, and where she could take as long as she needed without anyone rushing her. Sara just stared at her armor for a long time. They’d been cleaned by someone on the crew, who it was she’d likely never know, but it was spotless and ready for the next mission, unlike herself. 

She did, eventually, manage to get herself suited up. They hadn’t reached Havarl yet but Sara did her best to prepare herself. She also knew that, before she could leave the ship, there was one more loose end she needed to tie up.

Sara went over to SAM’s node and activated it. “SAM?”

SAM responded immediately, **“Hello Sara. It is good to speak with you. Are you feeling well?”**

“Bit nauseous, actually.” She admitted, leaning heavily into the desk. “How are you doing SAM?”

**“My processors are operating at peak efficiency. I am ready to assist.”**

“I asked about you.” She said, “Not your processors.”

SAM actually hesitated, something she’d never seen as so profound before certainly was now. **“I am… learning about trauma.”**

“Through experience?”

**“Through _your_ experience. It has proved… enlightening.”**

“Well, I’m glad I could assist.” She deadpanned.

**“Are you angry with me, Sara?”**

“No, SAM. I’m not.” She promised, “Thanks for giving me space. And for… bringing me back.”

**“You’re welcome. If you would let me, I would like to continue to assist.”**

“A ‘symbiotic relationship’, right?” She muttered, shaking her head. “Damn it all.”

**“You are deeply conflicted about this.”**

“Yeah. Whats your take SAM? Think someone betrayed Ark Paarchero?”

**“Considering it was the Archon’s flagship that was tethered to them, I believe there is a chance that is the case.”**

“Great.” A knock on her door caught her attention, “Open the door SAM.” He did so, and Scott stepped through into her room. 

“Hey sis.” He smiled for her in the most comforting way he could, “Kallo says we’ll be at Havarl in two minutes. The crew wants you to take your time though, so just come out when you’re ready.”

“Yeah…” She sighed, “Thanks Scotty.”

“You okay?”

“Trying to be.” 

Scott took the hint and left without a word. Sara took a few deep breaths; it wasn’t long before she could see Havarl out her window. She needed to do this.

“SAM, just… monitor. Something tells me this is going to be a rough one.”

**“Of course, Pathfinder.”**

Sara pushed herself off the desk and out the door. She climbed up to the Bridge, where Kallo was keeping the ship in space until he got her word to land. 

“LZ looks clear.” Suvi reported absently, “No wind, light rain, nothing out of the ordinary.”

“They might get stuck in that storm.” Kallo hummed.

“Little water never hurt anyone.”

Sara walked up behind Kallo’s chair, looking out at Havarl. He could hear her approaching and turned to smile up at her when she placed her hand on his shoulder.

“Hey.” He sounded very calm, “We’re ready to land whenever you want.”

“Yeah…” She breathed, looking out over Havarl. Kallo reached up and placed his hand over hers.

“You don’t have to do this, love.” He tried to be reassuring, “We can turn around if you’re not ready.”

Sara shook her head, “No… No I need to do this.” She told him, “Take us down before I change my mind, please.”

Kallo wasn’t going to argue with her. Instead he gave her an encouraging smile, squeezed her hand, then started their decent to the planet’s surface. Sara went to cargo, wanting to get it over with.

They couldn’t use the Nomad on Havarl, too much plant life they needed to preserve. In light of that, her entire squad, even Drack, had suited up. All eight of them journeyed out into Havarl, headed for the nav point they’d been given. It was at the bottom of the dangerous and restricting Remnant ravine, of course it was.

“What do you think we’ll find?” Peebee wondered aloud.

“Either a legitimate problem, a hoaxer, a trap or a disappointment.” Cora shrugged.

“Or all of the above.”

“This seems like a lot of trouble for a hoax.” Jaal pointed out.

“My thoughts exactly.” Sara agreed with him. This did not seem normal at all, not in the slightest. Something was up.

They reached the nav point only to find Kett in the area. A good number of Kett. Having her entire squad there made dealing with them quick and efficient, but Sara was the only one who didn’t fire a single shot. She lifted the gun but couldn’t pull the trigger; thankfully, it seemed none of the crew noticed and, if they had, they didn’t comment on it. 

Sara scanned what had been left behind by the Kett, squinting when results came up. “From the looks of this, the Kett were trying to capture someone.”

“Probably me.” A voice came from the shadows nearby. Out of the mist of the nearest waterfall came a figure, hidden completely from view until they moved. Some of her squad raised their guns, but Sara quickly stood them down. “Sorry about that.” A Salarian walked forward, dressed in black with gear befitting of an infiltrator. He grinned at the group, “Though if you’d broken a sweat I’d be sorrier.”

“You sent us that message? You think someone betrayed your Ark?”

“Yes, I did.” He shook her hand, “Major Saelen Varn, STG. Retired, of course.” He spoke quick and precise as all Salarians, barely pausing for breath.

“Special Tasks Group, right? You lot gathered intelligence and handled assassinations.”

“You certainly have a handle on Salarian society, Pathfinder. As I said, these days I stick with ‘retiree’.”

“Ha.” Sara shook her head, “Sorry, but espionage doesn’t disappear. It follows you.”

“Until there’s nothing for it but to grow a conscience.” Saelen gave the whole group a look-over, assessing them all quickly. “Lets be frank. There are too many inconsistencies aboard our Ark. They only make sense if someone betrayed us to the Kett. My best suspect is a biologist, Dr. Medrow Aden.” Medrow Aden. Something about that name struck Sara; she knew she’d seen it, but she couldn’t exactly remember where. “But the evidence is thin. I need a Pathfinder to verify what I’ve found, or I risk arresting an innocent scientist.”

“And Aden is…?”

“An ex-military biologist, part of our Ark’s early wake-up team. He claims he’s studying the Kett.”

Sara shook her head, “You think one of your own people betrayed the Ark. That seems outrageous.”

“Agreed.” Saelen nodded, “But the evidence points to him.”

“Raeka should be the one helping you.” Scott said, “She’s your Pathfinder. Raeka deserves that much.”

“I trust Raeka implicitly, but I can’t say the same for her team. You, on the other hand, are obviously trustworthy. If you were involved you wouldn’t have rescued our Ark at all.”

Sara sighed. Of course it was something. “Alright. What do you need from me?”

“I only have two leads left: Aden’s equipment and a Kett who might be his handler. I need you and your SAM to analyze them. Your scanner would be able to pick up the data we require. If we show Dr. Aden’s in regular contact with the Kett, that would prove he’s our traitor. This must be watertight.”

“Easy enough.”

“Thank you Pathfinder. Here are the nav points.” He sent them via his Tool, “Good luck.”

Saelen disappeared into the shadows, leaving the group there to ponder his words.

“Damn.” Vetra shook her head, “A traitor among the Salarians. This has all been one big shit show.”

It was like a bad omen as rain began to pour down on them, a storm coming in. They needed to get out of the ravine, so they started walking.

“Kallo, input these coordinates into the Tempest. Tell me where it goes.” Sara asked over coms, having SAM send the data over.

 _“Looks like Voeld.”_ He reported, _“Near that Kett base you disabled right before we found Paarchero.”_

“Hmm…”

_“Was the message legitimate?”_

“Yeah.” She told him, “Seems like this is a real problem. A big problem.”

_“Damn…”_

“Prep the Tempest, we’re headed back.”

“Why would someone betray the Paarchero?” Liam seemed rather distressed about it, “What’s the point?”

“I don’t know Liam.” Sara sighed, “But now that we’ve caught wind of it, we need to investigate it.” Investigate it, sure, even though it was the last thing she wanted to be doing.

They were all soaked by the time they reached the Tempest. Thankfully Lexi and Suvi were ready with towels, and Havarl was so warm they ran no risk of catching a cold. Voeld was their destination, a place that required the Nomad, so Sara, Scott, Cora and Vetra all changed out of their wet clothing and set their armor to dry, preparing for the ice. Cora and Vetra insisted on being the ones to go, and Sara was not going to argue. They deserved the closure.

Sara’s hair was still damp so she kept her towel with her. Kallo was steering them towards Voeld; a number of the crew was up on the Bridge, both curious and concerned about Saelen’s words. Sara paced back and forth impatiently.

“I don’t want to imagine something so barbaric.” Cora muttered.

“Betraying the Paarchero seems… extreme.” Kallo said as he flew. Sara grumbled a little in annoyance.

“What’s the matter Sara?” Scott asked her.

“Medrow Aden. I’ve seen that name.” She said, shaking her head, staring mostly at the floor as she paced, trying to think. “I’ve seen it, I know I’ve seen it. I just can’t remember where.” Annoyed, she hit the wall with the palm of her hand, “Damn it Sara, think!”

Scott stepped into her path, “All you’re doing is hyping yourself up.” He told her, “Calm down and think. Medrow Aden is a Salarian. Where would you have most likely seen his name?”

“Ark Paarchero, I know. But that doesn’t make sense, he wasn’t among the pods we scanned on the Ark while searching for Raeka.”

“Okay. Where else?”

“… The only other place would be…” Her eyes widened, “The flagship… SAM, search Aden’s name through our scanner’s database, in context with the Archon’s ship.”

 **“Searching.”** Sara gave Scott a mixed look, something of worry and confusion. **“Search complete. Medrow Aden’s name was on a stasis pod found on the Dreadnought. It was among the first you scanned.”**

“The first… The first! I remember!” She started to pace again, “We found Aden’s pod in a hallway next to a pod belonging to Yosz Enrix, part of the Salarian leadership. Both pods were empty, seemingly a way to confuse the remaining Salarians by hiding their leadership. But… god, that’s so much worse.” 

“What do you mean ‘that’s worse’?”

“Well, think about it. Why would the pod have been empty on the flagship? If they were taken on board they would have been locked away and used in experiments just like the rest. So how was Aden’s pod on the flagship while Aden is still alive and studying the Kett? He certainly wasn’t among the group we rescued. You see the problem here?”

“Yeah.” Vetra nodded, “It makes Saelen’s theory that Aden’s a traitor a lot more likely.”

“We need to look into this.”

“You sure you want to get into this?” Scott seemed more than a little concerned. “Might get ugly.”

“Hell no I don’t want to do this, I really don’t want to know if someone betrayed the Ark. But we _have_ to look into this. The dead, their families, and the survivors deserve that much. We have to figure this out for the sake of the Initiative. And…” She sighed, “for our sakes. And my own peace of mind, I guess.”

“Approaching Voeld’s orbit.”

“Take us in.” Sara turned back to her squad, “Lets go figure this out.”

-

Voeld was as cold as Sara remembered it. Not that it bothered her, but it certainly seemed to bother the rest. That said they seemed to be putting on a brave face, they had work to do.

The Kett handler was their first stop. He was stationed at a small Kett compound, easy enough to deal with. The group ran in while Sara sniped; she did manage to shoot her gun this time, but after the first kill she couldn’t bring herself to pull the trigger again. Thankfully her squad had it under control, but she knew she needed to get over it.

“This Kett has a Milky Way comm device implanted. Particle vibration on the transmitter resembles Salarian encryptions.” SAM reported upon a scan.

“‘Resembles’ doesn’t prove anything.” Sara sighed, “He could have gotten it from anywhere.”

“What about his equipment?”

“Techiix, seems he spent some time there. Lets go.”

The local Angara directed them to where they’d seen the Salarian working not all that long ago. It was a small station, no paperwork or trails left behind. Yet something nagged at the back of Sara’s mind.

“Looks like he cleaned up well.” Vetra noted. Sara looked all around the main computer. 

“Looks can be deceiving…” No, this was not sitting right with her at all. She continued to circle the machine, her thoughts racing a mile a minute.

“What are you seeing sis?”

“This… this can’t be right.” She shook her head, “Saelen said to scan it.”

“Is that a problem?”

“Not under normal circumstances, but this is an investigation. We’re not trying to scan material or location, we’re looking for finite detail. And Salarians are known for their secrecy, as much as that’s a stereotype it’s also true in many respects. And Aden? He’s ex-military. Salarian’s fight through stealth, encryption and silence. Aden would know how to cover his tracks.” She looked to them, “Do you realize how much power my scanner emits every time I use it? On unprotected systems it could easily wipe date. Surely Saelen wouldn’t be so careless, he needs evidence.”

“Maybe he made a mistake? Or he’s just… getting old?”

“No… no something’s up. I lived on Sur’Kesh for years, I’m no expert but this is a little too fishy.” She crouched down to the machine, “So I’m going to search this the good ol’ fashion way.”

Sara removed the access panel and started sifting through the wires. She could see the hard drive, but there was a strange wire connected to it that didn’t fit in with the rest of the wiring. The wire led to the back of the machine, where there was something behind all of its parts and pieces. Thankfully Sara only had to move a few things to reach it before putting everything back into place.

“Wow Sara.” Cora seemed genuinely impressed, “Anyone ever suggest you become a detective?”

“You’d be the first.” She muttered absently, looking over the device she’d found. “Most suggested I mind my own damn business. Apparently I’m a nosy bitch.” She recognized the device, standing immediately, “Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve hit the jackpot. This is an optical encoder.” She showed them her find, “Popular tech back in the Milky Way, I’ve used a few myself. If I’d scanned the machine this encoder would have wiped everything on its drives.”

“Can you hack into it?” Scott asked her.

“I think so. It’s going to take a little time… we need to be careful here. Saelen would have, at the very least, suspected the use of optical encoders. I’m not convinced we met Saelen Varn, or at least anyone who’s been in STG.”

“Okay… Then who did we meet?”

“I don’t know. But I know someone who might.” 

“Raeka?”

“Raeka.” Sara nodded, “Hold this and back up.” She handed it to Scott, and per her instruction he moved to the back of the room. Sara scanned the work station now that the encoder was removed.

**“There are traces of chemical compounds used in Kett Exaltation chambers.”**

“Log this with our other circumstantial evidence.” Sara instructed, “Lets get back to the Tempest.”

-

Returning to the Nexus was a strange experience. There was work to do, and a message from her father that she had yet to read. But instead of doing those tasks, Sara was pacing her room, glancing at the encoder that sat on her desk every so often. What was she to do?

Kallo came to check on her when she didn’t appear to anyone. He walked in on her pacing furiously and simple stood, watching her movements.

“What’s got you so worked up?” He asked her.

“Damn it.” She muttered angrily. “Damn all of this, traitors and espionage and tragedy and— ugh!” She scratched at her scalp, running her fingers through her tangled mess of curls, “I fired one shot. One shot, one kill, I couldn’t shoot again! We were in a firefight and I couldn’t shoot like a dumbass! I’m a _Pathfinder_ god damn it, I’m not supposed to hesitate! I cannot afford to be a liability. I won’t be a liability!” She looked so angry and confused that Kallo could do nothing but listen, “I never wanted this damn job! This wasn’t something I trained to do! Everyone expects me to have all these answers and I just don’t have them! I don’t know what I’m doing! I need to know what the fuck is going on! I’m not able to do this! I don’t know _how_ to do this!” Sara was so angry she actually punched her desk. Not at all thought out as she shook her hand with a pained expression, hissing at the sting. “I… haven’t gotten to the boxing bag in awhile. I should get back to it.” She grumbled.

When she’d slowed down, Kallo stepped forward and held out his hands, letting her decide how much contact she wanted through her anger. She took one of his hands, the other still scrubbed at her face and ran through her hair. 

“I know you didn’t want this.” He started carefully, scanning every expression that crossed her face, “And, believe me, after all this I can understand why you don’t want to continue. You’ve done a lot.” She looked to him with this fragile glint to her eyes, “I’ve watched you pull us through the muck, yes with guns but also with intelligence. Cracking those algorithms? You’re finding mathematical patterns I didn’t know existed.”

“…Yeah…”

“It seems to me,” He continued, “that ever since Habitat 7 you’ve been looking at yourself like you’re supposed to be a soldier. Like you’re supposed to be fighting constantly to protect the Initiative. And when it comes to the Kett, that’s true. They don’t ask questions. But that doesn’t make you a soldier. You’ve always had this opinion of yourself, even back in the Milky Way, that you’re supposed to fit into other people’s molds. And now here in Andromeda, I get the feeling you’re trying to force yourself into your father’s mold.”

“Well, you’re not wrong.”

He smiled comfortingly at her, “I know it’s tough to break the mold. But you’ve been steering us through this mess with more prowess and confidence than anyone I know. You’ve been approaching the problems like a Mathematician since the beginning. Rescuing the Moshae, cracking the Remnant algorithms, Ark Leusinia, the encoder over there. You are capable, you’ve proven that time and time again.” He cupped her face with his free hand, “You have skill. And you have the ability as who you are, a Mathematician and an Engineer. But if you keep looking at yourself as nothing more than a Soldier, you’re always going to believe you’re not capable. And that’s about as far from the truth as you can get. You’re not your father.” She brought her hand to rest on top of his, mulling over his words. “Just… consider it?” 

She gazed back up to him, and he could very easily tell that she was considering it. That fragile look was gone, replaced by the eyes he’s seen so many times as they built the Tempest; the look of Sara very clearly solving a problem.

“SAM.” She called, and his node activated on her request. “Where’s Raeka?”

**“Pathfinder Raeka is out in the field. Logs indicate she will return several hours from now.”**

“Send a message to her, tell her to come find me as soon as she’s back on Nexus. Make sure she knows it’s urgent.”

**“Done, Pathfinder.”**

“Thanks SAM.” She looked back to Kallo with a smile on her face, “Someday I’ll figure out how you can read me so well, and know exactly what I need most.”

“You have a plan?”

“Maybe. Once Raeka returns. For now… I think I’ll go help Nexus engineers, clear my head a bit.”

He pulled her close and kissed her forehead, “You know we’re proud of you, right? I’m proud of you.”

Her smile grew and her eyes brightened, “Thanks hun. I’ll try to remember. I don’t know if this traitor situation can get worse but…”

“We’ll deal with what comes.”

“Yes. Yes we will.”


	35. Trespass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara becomes involved in a conspiracy greater than anything she could have imagined.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wish this quest had employed more common sense in-game, been a bit longer. The premise hits hard, so I'm glad to have the chance to put a new spin on what is, in-game, a very short and simple quest.

Raeka had received a short mail from Sara’s SAM. Sara needed to speak with her urgently; she wondered what would warrant such rush, but she wouldn’t dare question it either.

Upon reaching the Nexus, SAM guided Raeka to Sara’s location. Not Pathfinder HQ, or the Tempest, but to the lower portions of the Nexus. There cleanup crews were working to repair and rebuild housing, trying to accommodate the increasing number of refugees entering the Nexus. Nearby was another docking bay, smaller than most and filled with broken construction mechs and boxes, with work crews repairing walls, ramps and access panels. 

“I need some spark plugs over here!” Raeka heard Sara before she saw her; Sara was rolled under one of the broken construction mechs, trying to repair it. She called for the plugs while still under the mech. Raeka approached quietly. “This mech’s going to be a whole lot of scrap if I can’t plug this fuse.”

“We’re all out ma’am!” A Turian called from across the way. 

Sara pushed herself out from under the mech with an impatient jerk, not noticing Raeka approaching. She looked annoyed at their response, “What do you mean we’re out, Brulus? How the hell can we be out of spark plugs?”

“Looters ma’am,” A nearby Asari answered, “been a real problem lately.”

Sara groaned, “Del?!”

A Salarian stopped her work nearby and ran over, “Yes ma’am?”

“Go find us some spark plugs, and let Kandros know we need a larger militia presence down here. If he asks questions just tell him to call me.”

“Right away!”

The Salarian Sara had given the orders to ran off as Raeka reached the mech. Sara had already rolled back under it, getting herself back to work. “Can’t do my damn job without spark plugs…” She muttered under her breath.

“Pathfinder?” 

Sara rolled out from under the mech again. Grease and oil stained her face and hands, and she was holding a wrench. Sara smiled immediately upon seeing her. “Raeka! Good to see you.”

“Likewise. SAM told me you had an urgent matter to discuss,” She looked over the work, “but I can come back later. You seem pretty busy.”

“Oh this? It’s no problem. Long as you don’t mind me working while we chat? The Engineers need these mechs operational as quick as I can fix them.”

“Not at all.” With a smile Sara rolled back under the mech. Raeka sat down to hear her better so Sara wouldn’t have to speak loudly.

“We’ve got a conundrum on our hands.” Sara began as she worked, “I was contacted yesterday by a retired STG agent, Major Saelen Varn. You know him?”

“I’ve met him once or twice.” Raeka nodded, “He’s a remarkable agent, despite his age. Very dedicated. He came to me not long ago seeking my assistance, he believes Medrow Aden betrayed Ark Paarchero.”

“Yeah.” Sara grunted a little, “He brought the matter to my attention, asked for my help investigating some of his final leads. I recalled the name, we found Aden’s pod empty on the Archon’s flagship while we were searching for Meridian, away from any laboratories.”

“He’s alive now, if he was placed on the flagship how did he survive?”

“That’s the question I’ve been asking myself ever since Saelen brought this to me.”

“Did his leads pan out?” 

“That’s where the ‘conundrum’ part comes in.” Sara set down her wrench, “Hand me that seven-rivet, would you?” Raeka handed Sara the tool she needed, “Thanks. We found Aden’s old workspace on Voeld. The computer was unprotected, I dug around and found an optical encoder attached to the hard drive.”

“That’s either evidence, or it will clear Aden of any wrongdoing.”

“Yeah. We just need to hack into it manually.” Sara rolled out from under the mech and stood. Raeka stood with her as Sara went to work on the mech’s right arm. “Problem is, he asked me to scan it.”

“… Scan it. You’re serious?”

“Yup.”

“Saelen would have known better.”

“My thoughts exactly.” Sara stopped and turned to Raeka, “I don’t think I met with the real Saelen Varn. Until I know exactly who I met on Havarl I can’t risk hacking into that encoder. I was hoping you’d have some ideas for me.”

“That’s tough.” Raeka shook her head, “I’ve already tried enlisting Ark leadership for assistance, those who woke first, but they’ve been busy, unhelpful or both.”

“That’s… troubling.” Sara’s brows furrowed, “You’d think they’d jump at the chance to learn the truth.” 

“One would hope so, but that hasn’t been the case. It’s only deepened my suspicions. Perhaps we should get… creative.”

A smile spread across Sara’s face, “Why Raeka, are you suggesting we, as experienced and honorable Pathfinders, break the rules?”

Raeka laughed, “I figure that’s a normal day for us, given the circumstances.”

“Seems so. What do you have in mind?”

“One of our Ark officers, Rand Lon, has an apartment here on the Nexus. He was among the first to wake up. He’s been very resistant when I’ve contacted him. You could take a look around, carefully of course, see if you find anything interesting. Maybe he’s heard something.”

“Rand Lon… I can do that.” She nodded, “What do you make of Saelen’s theory?”

“It seems monstrous.” Raeka sighed, “But the more I consider it…”

“The more it seems to make sense.”

“Yes.”

“We’ll find out what happened,” Sara told her, “that’s a promise.”

Raeka smiled, “Thank you Sara. I’m glad we have you around.”

“Ha!” Sara laughed, “I’m just a wild card, wouldn’t be surprised if our Directors hate our title by the time I’m through with it.”

“Forgive me if I disagree completely.” Raeka chuckled, “Anything I can help with down here?”

“Ah, I think we’re good. Long as we can deal with these damn looters we have everything we need.”

At that moment Del walked back in carrying a small box, “Forgive the interruption. I found some spark plugs ma’am.” She handed Sara the box and acknowledged Raeka respectfully. “Kesh put in a requisition for more, and Kandros says he can have militia down here within the hour.”

“Perfect! Thank you Del.”

“Anytime. Pathfinders.” She regarded them both before leaving for a new task. Sara took out the plugs she needed.

“I’ll finish up this mech, then I’ll go search Aden’s apartment.”

“Good luck Sara.” 

“Thanks Raeka.” Sara rolled back under the mech to apply the plugs, “I’ll let you know if I find anything of interest.”

-

Rand Lon’s apartment was spotless. So well kept for someone so busy that Sara was immediately suspicious.

He wasn’t in, and it was easy to bypass his locks. She entered and began searching, careful not to use her scanner. “Personal computer.” She noted, approaching the computer that was against the wall. “There’s no way he’d have an encoder too… right?”

**“I recommend searching it before scanning it, Pathfinder. Just to be safe.”**

“We don’t have a whole lot of time here. Anyone in the hall?”

**“No.”**

Sara crouched and opened the computer’s access panel as she had with the computer on Voeld. This one was considerably easier, as Rand Lon didn’t seem to think he had any need to hide anything in his apartment. She found another optical encoder among the wires, one that had obviously seen much use. “Amazing.” She snorted, “I didn’t actually think he would keep an optical encoder in his apartment.”

**“It is possible Rand Lon did not believe he would be implicated.”**

“That’s assuming there’s anything on this. Optical encoders are fairly common, but under the circumstances… I’m not risking it.” She placed the encoder into her bag and put her bag into the corner of the room so she could scan everything else.

She found a second terminal in his bedroom, with messages from Noist Hern and Oben Keld that weren’t of any use. The floor, however, was of much greater interest. “Freshly vacuumed.”

**“Traces of dust still remain. Based on Scourge radiation within, it came from a remote world. Elaaden is the most likely candidate.”**

“So Rand Lon, or one of his friends, went exploring out there.”

**“Pathfinder, there have been no official visits to Elaaden logged by Rand Lon.”**

“That’s more than a little suspicious.”

She continued scanning, finding traces of anti-depressant medications on the coffee table and the kitchen counter. It fit with mail he had on his terminal, a reminder to pick up a prescription. However, it was a planet next to the kitchen counter that offered the best scan.

**“There are traces of novetamine on the plant.”**

“A neurodepressant? That could incapacitate a person.”

**“This plant does not create novetamine naturally. It came from an outside source.”**

“Coupled with the dust on the floor? Not a coincidence. We need to get to Elaaden.”

Sara grabbed her bag and attempted to leave the apartment as she’d found it, including replacing the access panel on the computer. As she was leaving, she ran head first into a Salarian about to enter.

“Wh-” He looked stunned, “What are you doing in my apartment?!”

“You must be Rand Lon.”

“I— Yes. And you’re the one who saved our Ark. What are you doing here?”

Sara glanced around quickly, there was no one else with Rand Lon. “I’m conducting an investigation into the Salarian Ark. Quietly. Given the circumstances I’m in a huge time crunch.”

“Ah.” Rand Lon did not seem pleased, not in the slightest. “I did hear about this. I was too busy to assist, of course. But I suppose I’ll have to make the time now. What do you need from me?” 

“I need to find Dr. Medrow Aden and ask him a few questions, precautionary ones of course. Do you know him, or where he is?”

“Aden’s a biologist, we were among the first to wake up. Difficult times.” He shook his head, “I haven’t seen him since we rescued the Ark. Why do you need him?”

Sara took a breath. She remembered how calmly Kallo had handled Spender in the past. She could do no less now. “I’m… looking into everyone who woke early on Ark Paarchero. I heard some interesting coincidences from Saelen Varn, and I’m trying to sort out what’s what.”

“Saelen?” Rand Lon looked even more annoyed at the notion, “I see. If the Major’s at it again, this makes more sense.”

“At it again? What does that mean?”

“Well, the Major’s brilliant, of course. A remarkable agent. He’s just been in STG for too long. He’s been bothering us with ‘conspiracies’ since he woke up. Common in retired agents, I’ve seen it before. They can’t navigate a world without espionage.”

“I… see.” That sounded more than a little suspicious, if what she’d found had any real meaning.

“Look, lets forget this happened— for the Major’s sake. _Goodbye_ , Pathfinder.” Rand Lon pushed past her and into his apartment, locking the door behind him.

Sara walked away as calmly as she could, “Somethings up.” She activated her coms, “Kallo?”

_“I’m here.”_ He responded almost immediately.

“Prep the Tempest and call everyone in, we need to lift off ASAP.”

_“Sure, won’t take long. Did you find something?”_

“I’ll explain everything on the Tempest.” She told him as she went down the ramp, “It’s—” She looked briefly towards Vortex as she scanned the docking bay, almost missing him at first. When she did a double take, she saw Scott standing in front of Vortex staring at the door.

_“Are you okay?”_ Kallo asked her.

“I— Yeah, I’m good. It’s nothing.” She assured him, “I’ll be on the Tempest in a minute.” She shut down her coms and approached Scott carefully. He didn’t hear her until the last minute. “Hi Scotty.”

“Hey.” He muttered, looking back to the door. She knew what was going on, of course she knew. “Seems a little too easy, doesn’t it…”

“You don’t need to get stuck in that hole again.” She told him, “There’s other ways to cope.”

“Yeah. It’s just a whole lot harder. A lot messier sometimes.” She let out a patient breath as he continued, “All this? Someone betraying their Ark? The Nexus rebellions? How far are people willing to go? Thought we might… leave that behind in the Milky Way.”

“We’re pioneers.” She told him, placing her hand on his shoulder, “You have to be tougher than steel to make the trip out there. Everyone’s willing to take up the torch. Even if they chose the wrong torch.” Scott sighed heavily, pressing his palms into his eyes.

“This is stupid.” He muttered, “I shouldn’t be out here. I don’t want to get stuck again, sis.”

“And you wont.” Sara wrapped her arm around him, “C’mon Scotty. Lets go back to the Tempest, okay? We’ve got a traitor to find.” He followed her direction as she gently pulled him away from Vortex, “We’re going to make this right.”

-

Elaaden’s heat was significantly easier to deal with since the last time they’d been there. Sara thanked her lucky stars for that as they ventured out into the sand dunes with the Nomad, searching for SAM’s partial coordinates.

**“I believe the correct coordinates are nearby. There is a crashed ship in the area.”**

“Lets check it out.”

They found the crashed ship near a small outlaw scrap-post. Tracks and drag marks led from the crashed ship to that scrap-post, and surrounded by outlaws was a very injured Saelen Varn.

Fighting to reach him in the sand was brutal, the outlaws seemed to have been paid to be ruthless, but in the end her squad came out victorious. In the firefight Saelen had managed to drag himself up to sit against some of the scrap, but he was still in very poor condition. There was a wound on his chest and the blazing sun was murder for Salarian skin. 

“Tempest, this is Sara. We need a pickup right now!” Sara called into her coms, “Tell Lexi to prep med bay.”

_“On our way!”_

“Saelen?” Sara knelt down in front of him, “Can you hear me?”

“Saelen?” He asked with a pained chuckle, “Very… familiar. For our first real meeting, that is.”

“He must be delirious due to his injuries.” Vetra said, passing over the medigel. 

“I know you. You’re the one who saved our Ark.” He coughed in pain, “I contacted you hoping one of my suspects would do something reckless and—” He groaned, “— unfortunately, he did. I imagine I was supposed to vanish out here… while he used my cloak device.”

“He… you mean Aden? He was disguised as you the whole time?”

“It would… appear so.”

“I knew it was suspicious!” Sara grinned, seeing the Tempest quickly flying towards them. “Our medic’s going to help you Major. Trust me, I’ll explain everything we’ve found soon.” Saelen didn’t seem to have the strength to answer her, fading in and out of consciousness. The Tempest landed and they carried him to Med bay, where Lexi got to work tending to his injuries.

Kallo took them back to the Nexus, where Lexi called for help from Paarchero medics. Saelen had woken back up and insisted that he could not be seen on the Nexus, so they tended to him in the Tempest’s med bay. It left everyone with baited breath, waiting to see if he’d survive his injuries.

Raeka came by when Sara managed to get a message through to her. Saelen wasn’t yet out of med bay, but the crew was happy to let her wait on the Tempest with them. As time passed a lot of the crew had to disperse, but Sara remained in the cargo bay with Raeka. Kallo came by after awhile, and he was quite pleased to finally be meeting the Salarian Pathfinder in person.

“Hard to believe Aden really is part of… whatever this is.” Raeka shook her head, “What a cloaca.”

“I’m not touching those encoders until I get the chance to talk to Saelen. Assuming I get the chance.”

“Saelen’s tough, I’m sure he’ll be fine. And rearing to go the moment he’s allowed to stand.” 

“After how long he survived on Elaaden, I don’t doubt it.” Sara chuckled, “This worries me though. First Aden, now we have Rand Lon connected to him. Is it possible… does this conspiracy span the entirety of Ark Paarchero’s leadership?”

“Of the very first who woke up, it seems likely now.” Raeka sighed, “I’ve already talked to Hayjer. He swears he knows nothing about Aden, and I trust him. I looked back on our logs, Hayjer was supposed to be woken sooner but for some reason his revival was delayed. I’m not sure who authorized that.”

“Hmm…” Sara turned to Kallo, “Do you know Captain Hayjer?”

Kallo shrugged his shoulders lightly, “Through reputation only. His dedication to the Initiative is legendary among Salarians. If he says he wasn’t involved I’d be inclined to believe it.”

Raeka nodded, “I’m betting this only extends to the first few, our officers.”

“Pathfinders?” The three looked down to the lower level, where Lexi stood looking back at them. The Salarian medics were leaving the Tempest, “Saelen’s awake and aware. He said he’d like to talk. He’s almost as stubborn as you are, Sara.”

Sara grinned, “Thanks Lexi. Give yourself a break, you did a great job.” With a smile Lexi left, and Sara looked to Kallo, “I’d bring you in to hear what happened to Saelen, but if this goes south that would technically make you an accomplice.”

He chuckled at that, “Fine, fine. I’ll sedate my curiosity and scrounge up some service checks. But if that’s your way of putting me to sleep I’m afraid I’ll have to resist.”

“Ha! I’m sure you’ll find plenty to keep you busy.” Sara laughed as she and Raeka went to the lift, “I’ll fill you in later, promise.” She told him as they made they way towards the med bay.

“Alright, I’m curious.” Raeka smiled, “I get the sneaking suspicion you two are a couple.”

Sara smirked, “Well now, seems they didn’t make you a Pathfinder for nothing.”

She laughed, “Good for you.”

Saelen was awake in med bay, dressed and alert. He was sitting on the edge of one of the beds with a blanket on his shoulders, and the only indication he’d been injured was the IV bag and the blood on his clothes.

“Hey there Major.” Raeka pat his shoulder as she sat beside him, and Sara sat on the bed directly across from them.

“Raeka, good to see you.” He smiled at the two of them, “Amazing what a good doctor and some medigel can do.”

“How are you doing?”

“The poison was only temporary,” He told them, “Once they removed the dart from my chest the effects wore off. Ballistics intact, fantastic evidence right there.”

Sara chuckled, “I’m glad you’re handling this so well. Did Aden lure you out to Elaaden?”

“Unfortunately yes, seems contacting you made him desperate.” Saelen explained.

“That fits…” Sara hummed, “I investigated an apartment belonging to Rand Lon, one of the Salarian officers. The clues there led me to you. Seems he provided the neurodepressant, I found some in his apartment.”

“Interesting.” Saelen mulled over her words, “That confirms my suspicions. Everything comes back to our Ark.” He shook his head, “Aden didn’t have the clearance to alter logs or affect the nav computer, yet he’s obviously involved. I suspect Aden’s the front man for a conspiracy involving the Kett. He’s the key to blowing it open.”

“And he tried to use your investigation and Ryder’s scanner to cover his tracks.” Raeka nodded, “I see.”

“He didn’t cover his tracks well enough.” Sara smiled, “I’ll bet Rand Lon’s disappeared by now, but I found optical encoders in Aden’s old computer and in Rand Lon’s apartment. Aden, while posing as you, asked me to scan the computers.”

“Which would have wiped the encoders.” Saelen finished, “Canny bastard. If you’d scanned them we would have lost our chance at any proof.”

“All we have to do is hack into them manually.” Sara said, “I was going to give it a go, but I’m not versed in Salarian encryption. I’d hoped a former STG agent might be?”

“Heh. Consider those encoders as good as hacked.” Saelen grinned, “If I’m right, this will put number of murderers away. The dead deserve that much.”

“I would like to help, Pathfinder. Whatever you need.” Raeka nodded firmly, “Those are my people too.”

“The Tempest is open to both of you.” Sara told them, “Lets get to work.”

Sara retrieved the encoders and all the equipment Saelen asked for, taking it all to med bay for them to work on. Saelen could hardly leave the med bay but he still worked hard, and Lexi allowed them to use her desk to work on the encoders.

It was as difficult as Sara should have expected. The encoder she’d found at Rand Lon’s apartment had three layers of encryption. Aden’s encoder had seven layers, all of which were Salarian-made and, by definition, more complex than other types of encryption. The three of them enlisted the aide of Suvi, and as a group they began cracking through the encryptions one by one.

Saelen was brilliant. Sara knew how to hack, sure, but Salarian encryptions were a whole different ballpark and Saelen was navigating them like the pro he was. Even stuck on the IV he was completely alert and, with all four of them working together, they started getting through the encryptions. Sara let Saelen stay on the Tempest, without his cloaking device he worried someone on the Nexus would tip off Aden that he was alive. 

Raeka was more than a little helpful. While she was no hacker, she knew how to quickly process information and she kept them organized and moving quickly. It was through her hard work that they kept a solid work-flow, maximizing every moment of their time. Sara had never worked at such a pace before; she’d worked long hours and sleepless nights, but she’d never done so so quickly. Yet she had to to keep up with Saelen and Raeka. Even Suvi was having trouble keeping up, but they did their best and in the end, Sara felt very accomplished. The pace was very welcomed, and she loved the challenge.

It took a day and a half, and a break for the group to eat and sleep, before they had finally cracked the last encryption. SAM compiled all the evidence, Saelen managed to convince Lexi that he no longer needed the IV bag, and the three of them gathered up in the meeting room to view all of the evidence on holos.

It was huge. Monumental. And, above all, barbaric. The encoders were packed with logs, messages, credit transfers and data dumps. Notes and personal logs that were horrific to say the least. They found messages they’d intercepted from the Kett, which contained information about Arks Leusinia and Hyperion, along with mention of Habitat 7. It contained body counts, Raeka and Sara’s names along with Kett-issues bounties on their heads, and from the messages SAM compiled a list of every conspirator.

Why? It soon became obvious to them.

“My god…” Sara breathed as they read through it. The look of horror on all three of their faces was telling enough. “Saelen, this is huge. This is…”

“I know.” He nodded. Alongside the horror they all felt the rising anger. 

“How could they do this?” Raeka muttered, “So many civilians…”

“We need to find them. We need to find them _now_.”

“Aden will be waiting for your report.” Saelen planned with the mind of a seasoned agent, “Contact him and feign ignorance, ask for a meeting.”

“We’d need neutral ground to meet.”

**“There are caves on Kadara that would be suitable.”**

“Do it SAM.” Sara downloaded every scrap of information to her Tool, “Nothing to do but wait. This is more than a little disturbing.”

“We need to involve Kandros and the militia.” Raeka said, “I’ll go brief him and give him these names. Contact me once Aden responds to you?” 

“Absolutely. Just try to keep this quiet for now, we don’t need an angry station mob.” Raeka nodded and left quickly, shaking her head in dismay. “It’s hard to believe.” Sara sighed.

“Honestly Pathfinder…” Saelen actually looked quite sad about it all, “I once knew a lot of Salarians who would have done the same.” Sara’s brows furrowed at the notion, “We as a people are… paradoxical by nature. Information is fair game, how one obtains that information is what separates the righteous from the unethical. In this case the cost was far too high, but it seems our officers did not feel the same way. Too many will accept drastic measures for what they believe to be the right cause. I suppose I was naive in believing the espionage would disappear with the Milky Way. Figured six hundred years could change things. I didn’t want to recognize this world.”

Sara let out a slow breath, “That’s what makes the work we do so important, isn’t it?” She thought aloud, but also took the chance at introspection, “Be it here or back in the Milky Way. It’s why protecting these brave colonists matters. And it’s why we have to continue.” She hugged her own arms, glancing to him, “For the people who can’t.”

“Hmm. I only hope justice transcends galaxies.” Saelen sighed, “We should all rest before Aden responds to you.” 

Saelen made his way back to the med bay. Sara stayed a short time more; so many names of deceased colonists brought back the raw reminders of the Archon’s ship. 

They had to make this right. They _would_ make this right, Sara believed that. She believed wholeheartedly that they would catch those responsible, that they would get true justice for those that had died. But in that terrible, sickening moment, Sara had no defense. She went to find Kallo and, without a word, she pulled him to follow her into the silence and privacy of her room.

She didn’t even have the energy to tell Kallo their findings, all she could do was show him the documents from her Tool without words. Sara let herself cry, allowed herself that one moment to grieve in his arms, knowing that soon she would replace those tears with fists. Soon they would find those responsible and hold them accountable.

Soon. But for one silent moment, she accepted the fact that she was allowed to grieve in peace.


	36. Justice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for Sara and Saelen to attempt to unravel a massive conspiracy months in the making.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This quest in game, to me, should have been so much bigger. its implications are monumental and I wish more time had been spent on it.
> 
> I also didn't want it to be just Sara's job to handle taking down a conspiracy, or really to handle anything in Heleus alone. I really want to bring in others, those who deserve to help the Initiative just as much as Sara does. It's not just her job; it's a group effort and I want to explore that.

Sara had managed to get a few hours of sleep before Aden contacted her. The quiet normality of the Tempest was instantly disrupted; she got everyone together up in the meeting room, called in Raeka and Saelen, and read his email.

“Pathfinder Ryder, thank you for contacting me— blah blah blah— I will meet you at your designated coordinates, however I must ask you to—” Sara paused briefly, brows furrowing as she read it twice, “— to come alone, as I have new data that is too sensitive for anyone other than a Pathfinder to hear. I await your arrival on Kadara, signed Saelen Varn.”

“Absolutely not.” Scott shook his head, “You really think you’re going in there by yourself? It’s obviously a trap.”

“Of course it’s a trap.” Sara read over the mail again, “But I don’t see us as having any other options here.”

“Lets just charge in there and jump the pyjak, no subterfuge necessary.” 

“Too much risk. If we lose Aden here we might never find him again.” Saelen shook his head, “It’s too easy to disappear on Kadara. The way I see it there’s four possible outcomes: Either he’s genuinely paranoid and wants to meet alone, he’ll try to kill you, he’ll send someone else to try to kill you, or you’ll be met with an empty cave. In three of these cases we need to ensure we get at least a lead on Aden’s whereabouts.”

“He’s bound to be watching the cave entrance, cloaked somewhere to ensure I arrive alone. If he sees me show up in the Nomad with a squad, he’ll run.” Sara nodded, “I’m doing this.”

“We have to put some precaution in place.” Scott insisted.

“I have a secondary cloaking device.” Saelen told him, “I’ll join the Pathfinder in stealth, no one will know I’m even there. And, if Aden’s there, I’ll be able to arrest him on the spot.” Saelen pulled out what looked to be a small chip, “This is a tracker.” He explained, handing it to Sara, “Ensure you have it on you, if we somehow get separated I can use that chip to track you down again. It can also relay coordinates to your SAM and, by proxy, to the Tempest.”

“Perfect.” Sara pocketed the chip, “Raeka, I want you and the militia on standby, just to be safe.”

“Sure.” Raeka nodded, “Kandros is ready to assist.”

“Alright. Lets go catch Aden.”

Kallo took them to Kadara before he’d even heard the plan. He came to her as she was suiting up in the loadout room, just them as she explained what was going to happen.

“Wh— you— you’re kidding right?” He looked at her with wide eyes, “Tell me you’re joking.”

“I’m not.” Sara told him, loading up her guns and checking the sights.

“You’re walking into a trap with only Saelen as backup? Sara, I— I can’t just let you go through with this, you know that!”

“I don’t expect you to.” She said, “But I _have_ to do this.”

“It’s dangerous!”

She turned to him and smiled gently, “Everything about my job is dangerous, Kal.” He looked very distressed about it.

“All this over Ark Paarchero, I— I understand logically but…” He sighed heavily and scrubbed at his face, “Jeez… Please don’t do this.”

Sara moved to him and gently took his face into her hands, getting him to look her in the eye. She tried to smile as comfortingly as possible, “I need to do this. We have to catch these traitors before they disappear, before they can hurt anyone else. If they’re willing to risk unarmed civilians, who knows what else they’re willing to do.” Kallo pressed his lips tight and, in his own fear, he grabbed her head and pulled her close, his fingers gripping her hair, afraid to let her go. She pressed her forehead into his, “Please let me go. Let me catch them.”

He sighed again, looking her in the eye, “Sara… you’re so much more important to me than some conspiracy.” He muttered, “Damn it, I know you’re right, I know you need to go. The work you do is important and I… won’t stop you. Just… be careful. Please be careful.”

“I’ll try.” She told him, running her thumbs across the side of his face, trying to calm him down, “I can’t make you any promises, you know I can’t. But I’ll do my best. Okay?”

“Okay.” He nodded, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, “Okay.”

Sara knew it was time to go, no matter how much she didn’t want to leave his touch she knew she needed to. She kissed his forehead as he had to her several times before, smiling at him warmly. He did let her go as he said he would, and even though she didn’t want to, she left as he stared after her. It was time to catch some criminals.

-

Sara and Saelen made their way through Kadara’s hills in the Nomad, careful to avoid Outlaw camps. Sara gripped the wheel tight; she could do this. She had to do this.

Saelen seemed perfectly calm beside her, though the bumps seem to hurt him a little he never complained about his injuries or the task at hand.

“Pathfinder?” He asked once he’d noticed her tight grip, “You didn’t have to do this, or involve yourself in my investigation.”

“So?”

“So why did you? You don’t look very comfortable with this plan.”

“My comfort has nothing to do with it.” Sara glanced to him, a small smile coming to her face. “Thing is Major, for me it wasn’t a choice. We have to bring them to justice.” She sucked in a breath, “I hold myself personally responsible for how many we had to leave behind on that Dreadnought, not just Salarian lives but Krogan lives too. Doing this isn’t enough to make up for that loss, but if this gives people some closure that’s all that matters.”

A smile found its way to Saelen’s face, “You’re an honorable Pathfinder.” He said.

“I wouldn’t consider myself as such. My friends, Macen and Avitus and Raeka and Vaderia, they’re the real skilled Pathfinders here. I’m just… someone who cares. Some would say a little too much.” She stopped the Nomad just down the road from the cave SAM had specified. “There it is. Ready?”

“Ready.” Saelen nodded, “Don’t worry Pathfinder. You wont see me, but I’ll be with you the whole time.”

“I trust you, Major.” She nodded firmly, “It’s time we ended this.”

Sara drove up to the entrance, and once Saelen was fully cloaked she exited the Nomad. The cave was large and remote, and she saw no vehicles or ships outside the cave. She wondered what she would find, and while she did want to have a pistol ready for defense, she also knew that if Aden was here, holding a gun would not ease tensions.

She walked inside and looked around; there was no one in the cave. It was silent save for the dripping of water from the stalactites, echoing off the walls. Sara slowly spun around in place, looking for any signs of life. “Hello?!” Her voice echoed through the cave, but there was no response.

Sara wasn’t sure what to make of the situation. She was starting to hear more than the water dripping, little rocks moving about but it didn’t sound like a person, it sounded like natural cave sounds. Even so, apprehension began building in her mind, and she slowly started reaching for her pistol. No, she did not like this at all.

Sara had her gun in hand, about ready to up and leave. That was when she heard the footsteps; they came up quickly behind her, too quickly for her to react. Before she could even raise her pistol, she was hit on the side of the head by the butt-end of a gun. Sara crashed hard into the rocks below her, and a foot planted itself on her wrist so she couldn’t raise her gun.

The world began to spin, her ears were ringing and her vision blurred in and out. She could vaguely feel warm liquid in her hair and running down the side of her face. She tried to look to whoever had hit her, but she was far too dizzy to discern anything.

One of the last things she saw was many different figures towering over her, watching as she lost consciousness. “Dest— —er comms. Pick her— — et’s g— … …”

The world around her faded to black just as she felt someone’s hands on her ankles, and there was silence.

-

Consciousness came slowly. She heard things first, running water and echoing voices. She slowly blinked; first everything was blurry, but the more she blinked and squinted the more things started coming into focus.

The pain was what she felt next, the throbbing in the side of her head, the dried something on the side of her face and down her neck that itched. Sara managed to roll, trying to push herself up to her hands and knees. That only brought about more dizziness, but she remained on all fours until it stopped.

Sara managed to raise her head, pushing herself back to sit and take in what was around her. That was when the fear kicked in; she was in a cage, obviously underground, with a naturally-flowing waterfall nearby. All around her was what appeared to be Kett infrastructure with Milky Way tech added on. At the door of the cage were two people, a turian and a human, who appeared to be outlaws. They were guarding the door with heavy guns.

Sara had been stripped of her armor and weapons, only left with her shoes, pants and tank top. The cave was cold and she shivered a little, wishing she’d had her jacket. Then she remembered the mission. She discreetly felt around her pockets and felt the chip Saelen had given her was still on her. That was good, they’d know where she was even if she herself didn’t know.

Sara pushed herself to the far back corner of the cage, as far from the outlaws as she could get, and curled up into a ball. She discovered her tank top had blood on it, as did her neck and face. She’d been hit so hard that blood came from her head, but it had thankfully dried and closed the wound so she was no longer bleeding. Her wrists were shackled to prevent her from hacking the biometric locks should the opportunity arise, it seemed the outlaws had thought of everything.

She didn’t know what was going on or where she was, but she had the presence of mind to know that her crew would know her location. She kept herself curled up for warmth and waited, reminding herself to take deep breaths. They’d get her out soon.

“Pathfinder.” The whisper right next to her caught her off guard, and she stiffened, “Don’t panic, it’s me.” It sounded like Saelen whispering to her from just outside the cage, directly to her right. The guards didn’t hear him due to the running water muffling his voice. She glanced but saw nothing, “Please don’t move.” She turned her eyes downward again, just listening. Saelen must have been cloaked to avoid detection. “We’re here, the plan should start in a few minutes.” Sara raised one brow, trying to signal to him that she needed more information. He seemed to get the message. “Apex is here, as is your squad. It appears these outlaws were hired by Aden to kidnap you from the meeting spot. I followed your tracker, there were too many for me to deal with alone. Aden is here somewhere; Apex has the area surrounded, he wont get away. I managed to find your Tool while searching, I’ll free you from this cage in a moment. Try to remain still, I will not leave your side.”

She nodded once, just barely but enough for him to catch, and remained in the corner knowing Saelen was beside her. The fear was gone completely; her squad would raise hell, she knew.

It wasn’t long before explosions rocked the cave. The outlaws jumped and alarms began going off, and Sara could hear gunfire from somewhere in the cave system. Many outlaws ran past her cage to wherever that fight was, and soon it was only the two guarding her cage that remained.

Sara could hear footsteps beside her. Moments later Saelen burst out of his cloak and shot the two guards with lightning fast precision, his weapon silenced. He watched the doors for a moment, and after seeing no one running in he grabbed the keys from the dead turian and unlocked the cage.

“Remind me not to get on your bad side.” Sara smiled as he entered and unlocked the shackles. 

“You run no risk of that.” He chuckled, pulling her to her feet. Sara wobbled a little, her head still throbbed but she stayed upright. Saelen worriedly kept his hands raised until she was standing stably, quickly checking over her wound. “Can you run?”

“I can do more than that.” She told him, “I’ve been through worse than this. What’s the plan?”

“Well, Aden’s here. Seems this place is something of an operations center for our traitors, once utilized by Kett and but taken over just after Ark Paarchero’s capture. Apex wants me to lead you out first.”

“Yeah, screw what Apex wants.” Sara went over to the bodies and grabbed one of the guard’s rifles and some clips. “Where’s Aden?”

Saelen grinned, “Ha! That’s what I like to hear. I don’t know his exact location but these tunnels only run in one direction, and he’s not behind us.” He handed her a comm and her Tool, “Ready?”

“Absolutely.” She grinned and activated the comm. She could hear several groups talking over the open channel. She activated her end, “All squads, this is Pathfinder Ryder.” All chatter immediately stopped dead, though gunfire could still be heard, “Be advised that Major Varn and I are moving deeper into the tunnels to nail Aden’s ass to the goddamn wall.”

Saelen snorted in amusement, and several Apex members started laughing in the middle of their firefight. _“Good to hear your voice, Pathfinder!”_ She heard Kandros answer her over comms, _“Professionally I must raise my objections. We can get you out safely if you leave right now.”_

“Negative Kandros, I’m done fucking around. We’re going after Aden and you guys are being a fantastic distraction.”

Kandros laughed, _“Yes ma’am! Something in this facility is scrambling SAM’s comm connection, turn that off and we can get a map of the facility.”_

“Will do. Ryder out.” With a nod to Saelen, they left the room and went down a tunnel.

Saelen took the lead, and Sara didn’t mind that. Most of the outlaws were somewhere above them stuck in a firefight with Apex. The few they came across they made quick work of, briefly checking rooms before moving on.

“An interrogation room.” Sara noted as she looked inside one of the rooms, “We saw similar rooms on the Dreadnought.”

“It would be a good place to hold Aden until the firefight stops.” Saelen nodded, “Apex being here would put pressure on him to initiate a confession, which would help avoid a long legal process.”

“It’s worth a shot. Are his friends here?”

“I don’t know, but Apex is on lookout for them.”

The two continued on until the tunnels let out into a large room that had been constructed inside a chamber; the room was made to protect the equipment from the water that dripped heavily all around them. There was a lot of computers and technical equipment, seeming to be something of an operations center. They quietly approached the entrance and saw only one figure inside, a Salarian. Saelen looked to Sara and nodded once; that was Aden.

“Someone’s attacking the upper levels— no, no I don’t know who’s doing it.” Aden was pacing as he spoke to whoever was on the other end, “We have enough protection here, whoever it is isn’t getting through— it’s probably scavengers I’m not worried— Yes, she’s here— Yes— Of course she’s incapacitated, I realize the mistake I made I’m not making it again— There’s a bounty on her head, I’ll take her myself— He’s dead on Elaaden, she’s our only loose end— I don’t know what she knows but it doesn’t matter anymore— The Kett will deal with her.”

Saelen and Sara looked around the room to determine a plan of action. There were a lot of ways Aden could run if he saw either of them, so they had to determine a way to catch him. Saelen could cloak, but what could Sara do? She couldn’t go above, the water coming down was acidic. After a few moments Saelen cloaked himself and went in, and Sara moved the opposite direction along the outer wall, keeping herself hidden in the shadows of some of the equipment.

“Yes, I’m going to leave— We don’t have the explosives yet but they’ll be ready by tomorrow— yes this facility will be completely destroyed— Alright.” Aden hung up his conversation and began gathering up some of his work. Sara took the chance while he was distracted; she quietly stepped forward, moving and moving until he finally heard her steps; he turned around just as she had her gun trained on him and she was close enough to do damage.

“Hello Aden.”

Aden gasped and dropped all of his work, scrambling back in an attempt to run. As he turned around Saelen came out of his cloak and punched him in the face. Aden fell to the ground with a groan, with Saelen grinning above him. “That felt good.” He said, training his gun to Aden. “You’re one victim short, doctor.”

Sara went to the main computer. Aden had been using it so she didn’t have to hack in. She could control all of the facilities systems from that computer, and she worked to shut down the scrambler that was blocking SAM’s comms.

“So it’s true.” Aden grunted, “Old spies really do live forever.”

“This ‘old spy’ is trying very hard not to shoot you right now.”

Sara managed to disable the scrambler, “SAM?”

After a few crackles of static, SAM responded to her, albeit hurting slightly due to her wound, **_“Hello Sara. Thank you for disabling the scrambler.”_**

“Relay a map of a facility to all squads.”

**_“Done.”_ **

“We’re good.” She told Saelen, grabbing her gun again. He put his away and hauled Aden up off the flood, holding his hands behind his back and pushing him along. “All squads, we’ve captured Aden. We’re staying on the lower levels until the firefight is over.”

_“We’re almost through the facility, shouldn’t take too long.”_

Saelen went to that interrogation room and pushed Aden inside, allowing Sara to enter before shutting the door behind them. The glass was darkened with only one light to illuminate the room. “Just us now, Aden.” He said.

“Hmph. Investigate those leads, _Pathfinder_?” He grumbled, knowing he had nowhere to go. Sara handed the rifle over to Saelen as she glared at him. 

“I did. Highly informative, thank you.”

“I tried to give you a decent burial, Major.” He said, “There was no time to convince you of our cause.”

“Well, you have time now don’t you?” Saelen glared, “Start from the beginning.”

Aden was tight-lipped and didn’t say a word. Sara raised a brow and started pacing very slowly, trying to unnerve him. “When did it start, Aden?” She asked him, “Did you wake up in Andromeda thinking ‘Oh, who knows what we’ll find, I’ll put a contingency plan into place’?” Still he was silent, “No? Well how about when you found the Kett?” His eyes darted up to her in blatant fear. “Ah. You and your fellow officers discovered the Kett didn’t you? Before any of your engineers or civilians were woken you found them, and you crumbled in fear. You and your officers just allowed the Kett to capture Ark Paarchero?”

“My people agreed to this!” He told them, gripping the back of the lone chair in the room. SAM relayed some information to Sara over their private channel as he continued, “The Kett were— are — an unstoppable enemy. We couldn’t have defeated them! So we made a pact. Sacrifice our Ark to the Kett in order to learn their secrets, so one day we could destroy them along with their Exaltation.”

“And you volunteered as the front man.” Saelen continued, “By the time the remaining crew had woken up the Kett were already upon you, but it gave you and your officers enough time to hide. Some of you infiltrated the Dreadnought while others escaped and found this facility, using this as your operations center out of Kett detection.”

“You even delayed Captain Hayjer’s revival knowing he’d stop you.”

“The Captain’s too short-sighted to be convinced of the greater good.” Aden told them.

“How long would it have taken before you spoke up, doctor?” Sara asked, “The Ark was there for months. A year? Several years? Your own lifespan?”

“We didn’t kill them.” Aden growled, “The Kett killed them! We didn’t know about Exaltation until the Ark was under their control!”

“But you didn’t stop it either.” Saelen noted with disgust in his voice, “You valued the information you were getting.”

“You saw the guns on that ship! We never would have escaped. Well…” He glared at Sara, “Until a certain _human_ did.”

“Was the information you were getting worth the lives you subjugated to torture, Aden?”

He tried to stand straighter, “You’ll never prove any of this.” He said in desperation, “We’ve hired more than enough of these forsaken outlaws to protect this facility, whoever you brought here with you won’t make it past them! You’ll be dead if you try to leave.”

Sara had walked over to the window’s controls. She’d seen them in the Dreadnought, the ability to darken the windows or to make them clear. She pressed the button, and the darkness that hid them from view from the outside dissipated.

There, surrounding the interrogation room, was Apex with Kandros at the lead. A huge chunk of them all staring into the room, having heard most of the conversation. Among Apex was Sara’s crew, not just her squad; Suvi, Gil, Lexi and Kallo were all there with them. Beside them was Raeka with her entire Salarian squad, including Captain Hayjer. To her right were the rest of her fellow Pathfinders; Macen, Avitus and Vaderia, complete with their respective squads. And beside them all stood Alec Ryder, there to support them. All of them standing there, staring murder at Aden.

Aden looked around him in shock, fear, disbelief and horror. He’d confessed in front of every single one of them. “Dead men, huh? Apex begs to differ. I’m sure you’ve heard of them.” Saelen was smirking as Aden’s head dropped.

“So you spent months gathering data on the Kett while watching your people being used as test subjects. But, hey, a fair trade right?” Sara sneered, pulling up documents they’d found from her Tool, “Notes about the Kett empire, some tidbits about exaltation, Kett history. All of which we have no way to confirm and cannot, at this time, put any use to. You could have gotten these from anywhere.”

“We sacrificed civilians for that data! It could stop our extinction before it begins!” 

“And how do you know it’s accurate?” Saelen shrugged, “I sure don’t see any Empire here, do you?”

“So many notes here, surely you could have blown the whistle right?” Sara continued pulling up document after document, “Except, hang on, you start intercepting messages about Ark Hyperion. And suddenly there’s a Pathfinder around who would have complete authorization to investigate the Ark’s capture.” Sara continued to pace back and forth, very slowly, and he was becoming more nervous, “So you stay quiet, continue gathering intel that you have no confirmation for while you watch your people being slaughtered. And then, oops;” She glared harder, “You catch wind about Ark Leusinia popping up. Well, naturally, you’d blow the whistle then right? Surely the Nexus has the right to know that Ark Leusinia is under attack by Kett hunters. And you did know where the Nexus was, you had the designated coordinates for the Nexus rendezvous.”

“We… we couldn’t risk…”

“Of course!” Sara faked amazement, “How could I forget your oh-so-important intelligence? Well that’s worth a couple thousand more lives, isn’t it?” A heavy look of shame, horror and regret filled his face, “Didn’t know about that, did you? Pitiful.” Every single person outside the room had looks of horror, anger, disbelief, rage, sadness and betrayal all over their faces. The Salarians in particular seemed devastated, and looked to one another for comfort. Yet they all watched, and they all listened. “Even when they brought Krogan on board the Dreadnought, you didn’t think a lick about helping out after what you’d seen them doing to the Salarians.”

“And then Pathfinder Ryder finds Ark Paarchero, and you and your buddies slip away.” Saelen continued, “Until you caught wind of my investigation, and suddenly you realize just how many lives had been lost directly due to your actions.” He stepped closer, “ _Thousands_ , doctor. And you don’t think to share this information you’d sacrificed thousands to obtain, no, you instead decide to hide it away and make yourselves disappear.”

“You found out Saelen had contacted me, so you had no choice right? You became desperate. And in your desperation you jumped Saelen and met me in his place. Except you didn’t know who I really was until after you’d clued me into the investigation. And it wasn’t until later that you discovered my educational career and you realized, uh oh, Sara Ryder knows a thing or two about Optical Encoders. Suddenly you had two people to kill, you leave Saelen out in the desert and you kidnap me in an attempt to cash in on the Kett bounty they put out for me.”

“We weren’t going to run, we—”

Sara pulled up another document, “Really? Gosh, then what do I do with this lovely credit statement? That’s a lot of currency for one person.” She looked to him with an obvious ‘you can’t be serious’ face, “Planning a vacation, Aden?”

He looked like a broken Salarian, he had no defense, he couldn’t dispute the evidence. “I could have slipped by against Saelen’s word.” He muttered, “A former STG agent, old and reciting crazy conspiracy theories. My word would have been enough.”

“Luckily for us Aden, it’s not your word against Saelen’s anymore.” She got in his face, wanting to punch him but knowing not to, knowing her words were enough. She saw the eyes of a Salarian defeated. She gave him a stare so cold, no one else had ever bared witness to it before. “It’s your word against _mine_. It’s _over_.”

The group outside erupted into applause and cheers. Aden looked like he wanted to buckle, completely and utterly defeated. Kandros came in and took Aden from their hands, arresting him and putting him in cuffs. The cheers from the squads were loud and joyful, a successful mission completed, a conspiracy brought to rest. Justice for the lives that had been lost. Closure for those that had survived.

It was over.

-

Sara hadn’t gone to her crew, or her father, or anyone in Apex. She and Saelen had immediately followed Kandros outside to their shuttles to ensure Aden was kept secure. He was being arrested along with several other co-conspirators of varying species. Apex was loading them into their shuttles to be taken back to the Nexus.

“That’s Noist Hern.” Saelen nodded to another Salarian being arrested, “Another Ark officer.”

“You were right all along. Well done Major.” Sara nodded. As the shuttles lifted off they had quite a view of a Kadara valley. It was peaceful after everything they’d gone through. “What now?”

“Now?” Saelen shook his head slowly, “Now… I know a few more STG veterans who survived Paarchero’s capture. Raeka’s working to convince Nexus leadership to wake them from cryo early. They’ll help me track down the rest of these scumbag conspirators, Rand Lon, Oben Keld…” He shrugged, “Once we’ve put them away, I look forward to finding out what real peace and quiet feels like. Unless Salarian authorities need a counter-terrorism consultant, I suppose.”

“Peace? In Heleus?” Sara chuckled, “Never knew such a thing existed.”

“With your work, I think we’ll find it one of these days.” Saelen smiled and held out his hand, and she shook it immediately. “Thank you Pathfinder. Me, Raeka, the Salarian people, we all owe you for this.”

“You people keep saying that.” She smiled back, “No one owes me anything.”

Saelen glanced back at someone approaching them, then turned back to her, “Sorry Pathfinder, but I insist on disagreeing with you.” He chuckled, “Stay safe.”

“You too Major.” Saelen left, his figure replaced by someone she knew well, “Dad. You’re the last person I expected to be here.”

Alec chuckled, standing tall at her side, “Raeka let me in on what was happening. Figured being here as moral support was the least I could do.” He looked so proud, it had been a long time since she’d seen that look. “Apex is scouring the facility top to bottom. They’re finding very valuable data; nothing we can confirm or use right now, but in the future if this ‘Kett Empire’ really does exist, we have these notes. Anything helps.”

“Good.” Sara nodded, gently feeling the dried blood on her face, inching towards the wound on her head. It still throbbed lightly, and touching it hurt, making her hiss a little when she tried it. “Bastards got me good.”

“Happens to the best of us.” He held up his cane briefly, “I would know.” He pat her shoulder lightly, “You did good Sara. This is a huge victory.”

“Hmm.” She nodded slowly, glancing around. Towards the entrance of the facility she spied Kallo talking to Raeka, Hayjer and a few other Salarians she didn’t recognize. He was completely wrapped up in his discussion with them. “You said something about finding something new to fight for.”

“I did.” He nodded, glancing to where she was looking. “Have you found it?”

A smile made its way to Sara’s face, something soft in her eyes. “Yeah. I have.” She looked to him, “Protecting the people we care about? Someone to protect those who can’t protect themselves, right? That’s what we do here?”

Alec nodded with that smile of his own, “It certainly is.”

She nodded again, “Then… I guess that means I have to keep going.” She smirked over at him, “Better me stumbling around than you limping around.”

Alec laughed, “I couldn’t agree more.” He eyed her head, “Still hurts?”

“A bit.”

“Go see Lexi, Sara.” His tone took on that leader quality, the N7 in him coming back to the front, “You’ve done your job. We’ll take it from here.”

She turned with a smile and briefly raised her hands, “Fine fine, I’m going.” She said, “Thanks dad.”

A flurry awaited her, as it always did. Lexi fussed over her wounds, her squad came to scold her about being reckless and Apex came to deliver her her armor and weapons that they’d found in the facility. Many Apex came to thank her, and she spent some time to briefly catch up with her fellow Pathfinders. Everyone was running around doing something, even after her crew departed Kadara. Always one more thing to do, sure, but she also knew she could finally allow them a moment to breathe. It was over, they had gotten their closure, and they could finally breathe.

-

Sara wanted the crew to have some time. A little break, time to process so many emotions, time to breathe. Kallo had let the Tempest float in space; everyone appreciated the quiet.

When Lexi had finally let her go, Sara went to check in on everyone. Eventually she found Kallo in her room, taking some time in the quiet to read over the full report of what had been found in their investigation into the Salarian Ark. He hardly reacted when she sat down next to him, looking nervously between him and the datapad he held.

“That’s what the Salarian Ark was worth to our officers?” He asked quietly, sadly, and… something else. Something closer to anger. “Thousands of lives for possible information on the Kett?”

“Yeah.” She told him quietly, almost in a whisper, like anything more would shatter the silence. “Seems… they thought it was worth the cost.” Kallo let out a long sigh, closing his eyes slowly. He looked so sad. “I know how much faith you held in your people and your officers.” She put her hand on his shoulder in an attempt to be comforting, “I’m sorry.”

He nodded once, opening his eyes again. “At least I know who I can put my faith in. You found us the truth. The dead and their families have their justice now.”

“What can I do for you, though?” She asked him worriedly, “What do you need?”

He looked at her with a mix of emotions. The sadness was there but also a great deal of adoration and comfort as he scanned her face. He smiled for her, something very tender, “You’re here.” He told her, “You’re all I need.” Something about the way he’d said it made her blush, just a little bit, as she smiled back at him. He set down the datapad so he wouldn’t keep looking at it, instead favoring looking to her and not the horror of the reports. “Hows your head?”

Sara had cleaned up the blood and Lexi had done well patching her up. There weren’t bandages she could use over her hair, and the hair itself covered the wound. It throbbed but it no longer bled. “Ah, Lexi said it’ll hurt for a few days but that’s about the extent of it. You’ve seen me in much worse condition.”

“Yeah, I didn’t need to be reminded how close to death you looked on the Citadel love.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t expect the ambush, and I know I should have. I should have been more careful. I wanted so badly to get it over with that I didn’t think things through and I know I should have.” She told him, and she fully meant her apology, “Forgive me?” He stared at her, his smile fading, the worry readily replacing it.

“Sara, you…” He sighed a little, looking so helpless, “You really scared me. When Saelen came over the comms and told us you’d been kidnapped I…” She moved to take his hand, trying to be comforting, trying to apologize, something, anything. Anything to calm his fears. “I worry about you every time you leave this ship. I don’t expect you to make me any promises and I do trust you to come back but… damn it Sara, I worry. Once you’re off this ship I can’t keep you away from the Kett, or those outlaws or the Rokaar. And that… scares me.” He touched her face, notably avoiding the side that had been injured, as if confirming she was there. She knew how often he worried that what he was seeing was just some kind of memory instead of being real.

“Well… It scares me every time I ask you to fly us through the Scourge.” She told him, “And every time I ask you to fly us towards a Kett ship or to Kadara.”

“The fear comes with caring about someone. I don’t think I’ll ever not be worried.”

“Forgive me?” She asked him again, a little quieter this time, a little more worried at his response.

“Of _course_ I forgive you.” He assured her, starting to smile again, just a little bit. “You came back safe love, that’s what matters to me.” She breathed out a relieved sigh and matched his smile. It was in times like these she realized just how much they both cared; they cared so much so that it could bring down mountains, she had no doubt of that. Passion ran through their veins. 

“I… want to try something.” She muttered after a moment. It distracted him as his curiosity rose, a brow raising as he tried to read her.

“Okay?” He chuckled, unsure of what she wanted.

Maybe it was the relief that was really beginning to set in. The knowledge that finally they could breathe; she’d gotten her closure, and there was a renewed energy that replaced it. Maybe it was simply the way he looked at her, with so much trust and care and adoration. She wanted to continue, she wanted to give everything she had, everything she was, for him, to protect him; someone she wanted, needed, to fight for. She wanted to be clear before she could think of anything else.

Before she had a chance to second guess herself, Sara leaned forward, held him close, and kissed him.

It was by no means perfect. A little sloppy, a little awkward, they didn’t exactly share similar facial features and Sara had never kissed an alien before. But she kissed him anyway, with all the passion she possessed, as her heart raced and her mind went numb, thinking of nothing but Kallo, hoping so desperately that she was being clear.

She kept it short, and Kallo looked very stunned when she pulled away. The nervousness welled back up as she blushed and cleared her throat anxiously. She started hoping she hadn’t crossed a line. “That was…” She laughed nervously, “An apology. And… a thank you, and an admission, and a leap of faith, and a—mphf!”

She was cut off completely when Kallo grabbed her and pulled her back in for another with a huge grin on his face. Not that she minded by any means; it was suddenly so perfect, just them together, two blushing idiots who giggled so much it was hard to maintain a kiss for any length of time even though they tried. Two who cared so fervently and wouldn’t, at any point in time, have it any other way.


	37. Reflect and Repair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara pulls herself back to her normal duties as Pathfinder, finding the courage to stand up to the Directors along the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long to update, I needed to take a break from writing to recharge a little. This chapter is longer to make up for the absence; it's kind of a filler chapter I know but it also ties up several loose ends that I felt needed to be addressed.

Returning to Kadara was an adventure. Sara had given the crew a few days, of course, but once Apex had stopped stirring up Kadara’s outlaws they had to go back to try and determine if the planet could become a viable option for the Initiative’s future.

It was still hard to suit up, but Sara was getting better little by little. She was making it a point to avoid conflict with the exiles as much as possible; it was time to do things her way, and that did not include killing the exiles. After all, they were still from the Milky Way and had once been part of the Initiative. Part of her hoped that one day they could bring some back. Unfortunately they did find some unforgivable things; some exiles had resorted to literal cannibalism in the hills, while others were murdering peaceful exiles for their belongings and nothing else. There were evil things out there, things she could not forgive, but Sara still held out hope that many of them could still be saved.

Kadara was more than a little stressful, and Sara found that taking time away was helping. Out of the Tempest, away from people, just peace. Near Kadara Port was a Monolith on a hill, and using her jump jet she could get to a pillar high up to see the sights. There was part of a second broken pillar for her to rest against as she looked out over Kadara’s landscape. She would silence her Tool and just stare, taking some time in the peace. 

Kadara was beautiful, she couldn’t fault that. The sun, especially when setting, shone brilliant colors across Kadara’s surface. The sulfur springs shone and sparkled and the hills, dotted with caves, made for fascinating shadows and lovely rock formations. And though she could hear shooting going on more often than it should happen, it was still peaceful to be there, a break in the chaos.

She could see everything, and that’s how she saw Drack walking up the hill. She leaned as he stopped by the vacant Nomad before looking up at her, squinting into the sunlight.

“Hi Drack.” She called with true surprise. His face was the last she expected to see.

“Any room up there?”

“Sure, come on up.” She told him; normally she would have said something much more clever, but she didn’t know where they stood and she wasn’t going to push it. 

Drack jumped his way up the pillar to meet her, and she made enough room. The pillar was big and she appreciated the space. He sat himself down once he reached the top and took in the view she’d been looking at silently. She wasn’t exactly sure what he wanted to accomplish by climbing to sit with her, but she knew something she needed to accomplish.

It took a few minutes for her to build up the confidence, but finally she took a breath, “If you’re going to yell at me just… go ahead and do it.” She told him quietly, refusing to look at him. “I know what I did.”

She saw him glance over at her, “I’m not going to yell at you, kid.”

Her brows furrowed as she looked back at him, “Thought you were mad at me.”

“I’m mad at the Archon.” He clarified, “Not you. You apologized, that’s more than most.” She couldn’t claim she was entirely convinced, but he sounded sincere, so she listened. “All I want from you is your reasoning. I want to know _why_ you chose Raeka. And if you lie I’ll know it.”

“I wouldn’t lie to you Drack.”

“Good. So, why?”

Sara thought about that for a short time. There were a lot of reasons sure, but much of it she’d chalk up to excuses. No, he wanted honesty.

“Because…” She sighed, just slightly, “Because Raeka is the Pathfinder the Initiative needs. Someone who can be a constant.” She said, “Not… not me. I was terrified of what would happen to the Salarians if she died in there. Thousands of colonists who were subjugated to the Archon, their leaders dead, or so we thought I suppose, and above all that they lose their Pathfinder?” Sara shook her head, “I couldn’t do that to them. Or to the Initiative. Thousands and thousands of people who… need someone to believe in. Someone who’s qualified for the job, who trained for it, who the people looked to before we ever left for the Milky Way. As Pathfinder now I need to think about a lot of people and whats best for the majority. And whats best for them is Raeka, and Hayjer once she gives him the proper training for the job. The people already believe in them, I won’t be the one to take that away.” He glanced to her again, and she glanced back. “I know the situation was screwed up, and I really am sorry that we had to leave them behind. If I could go back there’s a lot of things I would have done differently. But at the same time… I refuse to regret the decision I made, that’s the god’s honest truth.”

“Hmm.” He nodded just once, very slowly. “‘A constant’ huh?” He repeated quietly. “You do realize I’ve been able to smell the medications on you since day one, right?” Sara must have looked at him with blatant panic on her face because he held up a hand like he was trying to stop her from running. “Relax kid, I’m fourteen hundred years old I know when to keep my mouth shut. It’s not something anyone else can pick up on, I doubt anyone knows but to a Krogan it’s obvious, meds always have a distinct artificial smell.”

“Don’t ask me, Drack.” She told him bluntly, “I’m not going to give you an answer.”

“I wasn’t going to ask. Just wanted you to be aware. Not sure what you’ve got to hide but I’ve seen enough to know that not everything should be shared.” He pat her on the back, the way any grandfather would. “All things considered you’re doing a good job kid. You’re not givin’ yourself enough credit.”

“Hmm. I wouldn’t know.” She shrugged, “But thanks I suppose.”

Drack pat her back again before removing his hand. Sara breathed out a sigh; at least the tension was gone, she could feel it. He wasn’t mad and she couldn’t have been more glad for that. Maybe now she could finally begin to move on.

-

Out of everything and everyone on Kadara, the one that surprised her the most was Reyes Vidal. 

She wasn’t sure what to think of him exactly. The two traded sarcastic one-liners but she’d not had the time to really get to know the man. What she could tell was that he had power on Kadara, a lot more than he was willing to admit. How far that extended was beyond her knowledge but something wasn’t right. And whatever that was, it was putting Sloane Kelly on edge. Something, or someone, was pushing her.

It was small favors over time, things neither could consider to be favors in the hell-hole that was Kadara. Solving a few murders, helping Reyes with a job for the implied promise of a future favor in return, even attending a party Sloane was hosting, it was all she could do to try and discern a way to make Kadara viable. How, she wondered, could she sway Kadara’s political powers; it wasn’t safe for an Outpost with Sloane at the lead.

And it was Reyes she went to when she needed an ideas on where she could improve viability. He always did know what was happening in Kadara’s hills, information was part of his trade. She ensured there was always something she could do in turn that would be worth the information he was giving; it seemed to her that he was just as interested in ‘cleaning up Kadara’ as she was.

“Unfortunately, Sloane’s got herself an iron grip right now.” Reyes told her. It was almost nice to just sit and talk, if Kadara wasn’t such a pisshole. “Until someone kicks her off that throne I don’t see Kadara making much progress.”

“She’s paranoid about something.” Sara nodded once, slowly, thinking it through, “It’s so obvious, I just… don’t know what it’s about.”

“Perhaps she’s worried about a rival gang. But I can’t imagine any of them being powerful enough to shake up Sloane.”

“The Collective, perhaps?”

Reyes smiled at her, “Anything’s possible.” He sipped at his whiskey as a thought seemed to come to him, “Ah, I did hear something recently that I thought you might be interested in.”

“Oh?”

Reyes handed her a nearby datapad, “I caught wind that local scavengers drilled into an underground remnant structure.” Sara’s brows furrowed as she read the datapad, listening to his words. “Something like those ‘Vaults’ you’ve been finding on other planets, I hear. I’m not sure what they found down there but if it is a Vault, I don’t think you’ll want scavengers messing with it.”

“No.” She nodded firmly, “It’s extremely dangerous for them and for the planet. My crew and I managed to crack the algorithms for Kadara’s monoliths but I haven’t had a chance to apply them yet.”

“Well then, lets go.”

Sara looked up to him with a frown, her face filled with confusion. “Excuse me?”

“Lets go.” Reyes repeated with his usual calm smile. “I’ll admit my curiosity about the Vault, and I sure don’t know how to get inside. What I do know is the fastest routes to avoid the local scavengers.”

“You just want more information about the Vaults and how they can be utilized.” Sara corrected in a deadpan voice, “I can tell you right now, you can’t put it to use. None of the scavengers can. All that they can do is possibly damage it, assuming the remnant haven’t killed them already.”

Reyes chuckled, “I have no intention of messing with the Remnant, Pathfinder, but learning more about them might benefit my trade. You know me, I love information.”

“Hmm.” Sara sighed, “Well I do need to get through without running into local scavengers. Mutual benefit I suppose. You’re in.”

Reyes grinned, “Glad we can do business civilly, Pathfinder.”

“Uh-huh.” She couldn’t help but smile herself; his grin was contagious, despite her caution in Reyes’ involvement. She wondered what exactly his game was.

-

Scott didn’t trust Reyes, and he made that very clear to both Sara and Reyes himself. Bringing Drack along with them seemed right, under the circumstances. Both of them were being protective and Reyes seemed very amused by that fact. 

Reyes gave them routes through the hills that were far less populated by exiles, and it sped up their time reaching the Monoliths considerably. Applying algorithms was a nice change from Kett and conspiracies, and soon they’d recovered the coordinates of the Vault’s entrance.

As they approached the entrance they watched ships lifting off and leaving the area in an obvious attempt to avoid the Nomad. “Those look like Collective ships.” Sara noted as she squinted at the retreating ships, “What are they leaving for?”

“Maybe they found something.” Reyes shrugged his shoulders lightly, but Sara noticed something that was briefly stilted. “Or nothing of value.”

“Perhaps…” She hummed curious upon noticing the rather strange Reyes behavior, “But they outnumber us.”

“There’s no real way to know their motives.”

“I… suppose not.”

They reached the Vault’s entrance as the last Collective were leaving. Turned out some Exiles had found the half-buried entrance to the Vault. They had drilled in through rock just to the side of the entrance until they broke through to the inner gravity well, where they’d climbed down via ropes and makeshift ladders. The group used the much safer gravity well, and upon reaching the bottom they found the exiles dead. It seemed their ropes and ladders had broken when they tried to climb out, and at least some had died of starvation. 

Opening the Vault was no trouble, it didn’t have the puzzles Elaaden had. But the gaping hole in the ceiling was a problem and Sara didn’t hold enough trust in Reyes to let him watch their backs, so she had Scott and Drack stay behind and cover their backs while she and Reyes entered the Vault. 

Reyes didn’t touch anything at first, but there was a glint to his eyes as he looked at all the unique and glowing rem-tech. There were some bots around but otherwise the Vault was quiet. They even found a side room that held terabytes of information for SAM to scan.

“So this is what you’re doing when people say you’re saving the cluster.”

Sara snorted, “That’s way too strong a term.”

“Is it?”

Reyes could be so hard to read at times, but at that one moment he actually seemed very sincere and thoughtful. They reached one of the inner doors; his curiosity getting the better of him, Reyes placed his hand on the consoles Sara had been using. It didn’t respond to him at all, not even a noise. 

“It is. At least I think it is.” Sara told him, using the console once he stepped aside. “I suppose there are people who would disagree.”

“Many, in fact. Even the exiles. You’ve given a lot of them hope.”

“I hope that’s the case.”

Reyes gave her a side glance as they walked, “You don’t trust me.”

“I don’t trust anyone on Kadara, Reyes. Nothing personal.”

“A good thing. But we’re not all bad.” He told her with a strange gravitas, “So many people came to Andromeda, left behind everything they knew, only to be thrown into disaster with leaders who could not calm their fears. Tann’s comments and lies only furthered distrust and panic. Instead of giving the people something to believe in, he and Addison all but destroyed our moral, our hope things could get better.”

“That is why I do not blame the exiles for leaving.” Sara told him pointedly, “In another life… I might have been among the exiles. I don’t know, I wasn’t there. I’m not going to judge you for leaving Reyes, but I can’t trust you either.”

“We both want Sloane off that throne of hers.” He reasoned, “Kadara needs trade with the Nexus just as much as you need an Outpost on Kadara. Maybe that can be the grounds for a small bit of faith, huh?”

They reached the core of the Vault; Sara stopped at the console, humming in thoughts. She didn’t move to activate it as Reyes took his time to look around. “I want to bring some of them back.” She admitted to him, prompting a wide-eyed gaze from Reyes. “I want to offer them the chance. A lot of the exiles are criminals and thugs but many more…”

“Are good people.” He finished for her.

“Yes.”

Reyes nodded once, turning away from her, “You truly are the Pathfinder the Initiative deserves, Sara.”

“I wouldn’t know.” She took a moment to scan the room, “Tell me something, Reyes. Why did you come to Andromeda?”

She saw a faraway look in Reyes’ eyes, something that almost looked like nervousness. There was a softness to his features she’d never quite noticed before.

“To be someone.” He told her bluntly, honestly, there was not a hint of deceptiveness in his voice. In a moment of solidarity she looked him in the eye and gave him her most understanding smile.

“Me too.” She replied, and the smile that came to his face reflected her own. The undeniable beginnings of a connection between them. “Ready to run?”

“Uh…” He gave her a surprised and confused look, “Run from what?”

Sara only smirked at him as she activated the core. It lit up red, and Sara watched fear engulf Reyes’ face as he saw the cloud of burning death starting to race towards them. “From _that_.” She told him with a smile, patting his shoulder before pulling on his arm, breaking him from his trance and forcing him to run after her. He didn’t need to be prompted twice and had no troubles keeping up with her.

Scott and Drack were still at the entrance when she and Reyes came racing in, out of breath from their run as Sara hit the override. The cloud stopped and the doors shut, and the Vault activated completely.

“Give me some warning next time.” He panted, bent over trying to regain some air. Sara chuckled and pat his back.

“What’s the fun in that?” She asked him, receiving a completely fake glare in return. “Come on, we’d better get back before the sun sets.”

-

Being called by Sloane Kelly herself was not something Sara expected by any stretch of the imagination. But there she was headed to Sloane’s annoyingly dark throne room out of sheer curiosity, wondering why she was being called there at all. She wasn’t sure what to think.

Sloane was standing at her window when Sara walked in. The room was completely empty and silent and Sloane was barely moving.

“Well this is unusual.” She commented upon entering, “Where is everyone?”

“I told them to get out of my sight.” Sloane grumbled angrily. There was something in Sloane’s tone that immediately put Sara on edge. 

“What happened?”

Sloane let out a sigh; Sara stepped up beside her and looked out the window as she was, watching the ships coming to and leaving the port. “The Charlatan used my own people to beat up Kaetus. He’s… alive. Barely.” Sloane sounded more than a little upset and Sara knew why; it was obvious there was a relationship between the two.

“The Charlatan wants to put you on edge.”

“I know.” Sloane nodded. 

“But you didn’t call me here for a pity party.” Sara glanced over at her.

“No. The Charlatan left a note on Kaetus’ body. He wants to settle things between us. I suspect a trap, and I can’t trust my own people anymore. But you? You’ve proven reasonable before. And you need an Outpost.”

“So,” Sara nodded slowly, “Help you deal with the Charlatan and you grant me an Outpost.”

“You’re smarter than you look. Your Outpost pays us for protection and they get to stay. You need the space for the sleepers.” Sloane told her, “I need to end this before things get worse.”

“I understand.”

Sloane looked to Sara, and she wasn’t able to place Sloane’s expression. It was like she was carrying a weight. Sara didn’t like the plan at all but she also knew that this could be her chance to sway Kadara’s political influence. Knowing who the Charlatan was would give her an edge. “You don’t trust me. I know that.” Sloane said with a nod, “And you shouldn’t trust me, because I sure as hell don’t trust you. But… shit happens, right?”

It was strange to hear Sloane talk like a person instead of a ruler, a posturer. It was a side of Sloane Sara had never seen before. “Mutual benefit. I know how it works.” Sara shook her head, “Sloane this is your chance to reunite with the Initiative, you know that. With these worlds becoming habitable bringing back the exiles will stop these rampant murders and scavenging and looting. Benefit on all sides.”

“I can’t trust the Initiative. None of us can.” Slone said immediately, “Tann and Addison lied to us, betrayed us, kicked us while we were down. We had no choice but to leave the Initiative for our own survival. I thought things would be different here but… different universe, same bullshit.” She shrugged, “I won’t be fooled again. You’d do well to remember that. Tann cares a whole lot more about his power than the people he’s supposed to be protecting.”

“There’s two sides to every story.”

“Really?” She snorted, “Seems crystal clear to me. I know what they did to us, I remember the people they killed in those first months of being here. I’m not making the same mistake twice. Kadara Port is _mine_ , and I’ll fight like hell to keep it that way.” She pulled up her Tool, “These are the coordinates for the meeting. I’ll meet you there.”

Sara left and went to prepare her crew. She had a feeling that everything was about to change.

-

Sloane was waiting outside the cave that had been marked as the meeting spot between her and the Charlatan. She looked agitated and upset, yet also determined to get it over with.

“Took your sweet time.” She grumbled, glaring at her and her squad. “Lets finish this.”

“After you.”

Sloane led the way into the cave, hand hovering over her pistol, scanning the entire cave. It wasn’t really large but it was big enough to hide something, or someone.

“You look like you’re waiting for someone.”

All eyes shot to the voice that sounded to familiar to Sara. Reyes stepped out of the shadows and into the middle of the cave, looking them all over. His eyes rested on Sara slightly longer and she caught a flash of something; remorse?

“I’m _waiting_ for the Charlatan.” Sloane scoffed, “Not some third rate smuggler.”

Sara’s eyes widened as the puzzle pieces fell into place, the realization hitting her like a truck. “… They’re one in the same. The murders, the investigations, the Angaran spy, your interest in the Remnant. All to undermine Sloane’s power.”

“Death by a thousand cuts.” Reyes confirmed.

Sloane glared hard at him, standing straighter, “You said you wanted to settle things. How?”

“A duel.” He said, “You and me, right now. Winner takes Kadara port.”

“Avoids a war.” Sara sighed. “Clever bastard.”

A smile found its way to Sloane’s face. “I’ll take those terms.”

Sara backed away from the two, her thoughts racing a mile a minute. This was her chance to permanently shake up Kadara’s political powers. Reyes she knew, but after this news she wondered if she could truly trust him. Yet his want to avoid a war was commendable, if nothing else. Sloane still worried her, an Outpost on Kadara still wouldn’t be safe or viable if she allowed Sloane to exploit it. It wasn’t a trade she was sure she was willing to make.

Then she saw the tiny flash. The reflection off the scope of a sniper rifle, trained on Sloane.

Sara knew she only had a second or two to act. It would be one hell of a gamble, a shot in the dark, but if push came to shove she felt confident she could at least negotiate with Reyes. Sloane was not so flexible; Kadara could never be healed with her in the picture. 

Sara didn’t stop the sniper from his shot. She just shut her eyes as he fired, hitting Sloane in the chest. She stopped and shuddered, groaning out in pain. She fell to her knees, then completely to the ground. Sloane Kelly was dead.

“Get her out of here.” Reyes ordered his sniper, “Call the crew, prepare for a pickup. Kadara Port is ours tonight.” The Sniper did as he was asked, and Reyes looked to Sara with too many emotions to place. He motioned for her to follow him, taking her to the back of the cave where they could talk privately. The cave let out to a sheer cliff face overlooking a Kadara valley.

“‘Death by a thousand cuts’, huh?” Sara muttered, shaking her head and looking out over the valley. “You got everything you wanted.”

“What I want is peace.” He corrected her, “Sloane would have brought war to Helius. We don’t have the population to survive that.”

Sara sighed, “Help me understand here. Do you want my trust or not? Is Reyes even your real name?”

“It’s what my mother called me.” He tried to lighten the mood, but Sara was not impressed. He sighed, “It’s my real name. I swear on Kadara Port.” She looked to him with a raised brow, “I only lied because I didn’t want the rumors surrounding the Charlatan to taint your view of me.”

“Hmm.” She nodded once, very slowly, “Your reputation does proceed you.”

“It’s a gift… and a curse.”

Sara folded her arms and glared out into nothing, letting out another heavy sigh. “How many more good people are we going to lose to this madness?” She muttered angrily, “Even Sloane… I’m sure there was a time where even she was reasonable.”

“Fear and desperation can change people.” Reyes nodded solemnly, “But I want that to change again. I want Kadara to be a success story, not a cautionary tale. We can still bring some of them back Pathfinder.”

“Your willing to work with the Initiative?”

“Absolutely. Things change; we need you.” He turned to her fully, and she followed suit. “Once we have Kadara Port under Collective control, you can build your Outpost.”

“Ha.” Sara started to smile, “Tann will hate that.”

“Not really his call, is it? You’re the Pathfinder.”

“You need to give me a guarantee that no Initiative shuttles will be shot down on their way in.”

Reyes gave her a genuine smile, “I want this Outpost as much as you do. It will have my full protection, that’s a promise.”

“How much will that promise cost me?”

“The trade your Outpost will bring in will cover it.” He said, “I can understand your caution. Come back to the Port once we’ve secured the area and I’ll share any data we find with you. Will giving you that data lend me your trust?”

Sara couldn’t see anything on his face to signal that he was lying. She didn’t have much to lose; if he came up with data she could use the arrangement would be more than worth her trust. They needed the Outpost. “I think that would do, yes.” She told him. They shook hands firmly as a shuttle approached the cliff exit, a Collective pickup. Reyes jumped into the shuttle, “Good luck.”

“When we have the Port, you’ll be the first to know.” Reyes promised before the doors closed, his shuttle pulling away and heading back to the Port. Sara called the Tempest for a field pickup and pulled her squad back together.

She hoped Sloane’s death would be worth it.

-

It took days, but it finally happened. With the protection Reyes provided, the Initiative was able to set up an Outpost on Kadara.

Sara had taken some time to talk to Reyes, and he’d fulfilled his promise; Sloane had a lot of data, particularly on the Rokaar and on the rebellion months before. He had held up his end of the bargain, so Sara set up the plans for a Kadara Outpost. Initiative shuttles began landing and Addison gave her a mixed reaction. All in all, Sara considered it to be a victory.

The data on the Rebellions was of particular interest. It was a large collection of logs, names, and personal logs from Sloane. Obvious evidence she’d been collecting and recording, Sara knew it was an invaluable glimpse into what had really happened.

She went through them after a long day assisting the Outpost. She spent the evening in her room with Kallo at her side, he went through reports from his pilots while she read through Sloane’s logs. It was nice to spend their time in the quiet, and Sara found great comfort just being able to lean into his side and rest after many days spent on Kadara.

Reading through Sloane’s logs highlighted many problems that rose up in those first months in Andromeda. Deaths and fear, dwindling supplies and Jien’s death shook up so many people. It became very obvious that Tann and Addison had not been prepared. Certain facts caught her eye.

“Kal?”

“Hmm?”

“Why didn’t you go back into Stasis before the rebellions?”

Kallo looked at the logs she was reading through and saw the speech Tann had given that Sloane had transcribed. “Ah. No one went back into stasis. Everyone was too afraid to leave their fates in the hands of someone else, what with all the damage the Nexus took.”

Sara snorted, “Tann considered this a speech? It’s depressing.”

“It sapped everyone’s moral really quick.” Kallo confirmed, “Then we found that none of the planets we’d detected were viable and… well, people wonder why anyone would rebel, there’s a reason.”

“ _‘Log sixty.’_ ” Sara began to read aloud, “ _‘Calix urged the people to resist Tann’s mandatory stasis order. They stole weapons and set a fire in Hydroponics; I went to track Calix down before he and his workers could get off the station. I was captured, but I knew Calix, he was willing to speak with me. I was close, so close, to talking them down to a peaceful surrender. That was when the Krogan came in looking for blood. The Nakmor brutes stopped the retreat and killed Calix in Nexus halls. The rest were forced to surrender. I didn’t know Tann was sending Krogan and I didn’t approve of the decision. This could have been handled peacefully, but people I knew died due to hasty decisions. That was the day I lost faith in the Initiative; the rebels were just scared and hungry civilians who had no solid leadership to turn to. I thought it would be better if I left with them.’_ Wow.”

“Tann and Addison ordered us scouts to keep the barren worlds a secret for so long, a lot of people felt lied to and cheated.”

“And this… Tann tried to obtain cryopod override codes from Kesh and Calix and keep them, he claimed it was in an attempt to ensure they didn’t lose that information but… that’s worrisome.” Sara sighed, “I understand why people decided to leave.” She lowered the datapad, “But I still think we can start bringing some people back now that things have calmed down, even with Tann at the lead.”

Kallo saw the look in Sara’s eyes, the wheels turning in her head. “What are you planning, love?” He asked her, unsure if he should be excited or nervous about whatever it was she was thinking.

Sara pulled up her Tool and went to send some mail, “A meeting.” She told him as she typed, “Only the directors can authorize the return of exiles, it’ll take a screening process too. But if I can convince them to authorize it… we can start bringing people back to work on our Outposts, start growing more food and producing more materials. All of the exiles are workers, they have expertise we need.” She sent the mail off requesting a meeting with Initiative leadership.

“It’s a gamble.”

“Gambles are part of my job.” She told him with a smile. Kallo could see the nervousness etched into her features, “Someone needs to say something, might as well be the resident blunt hardass.”

Kallo smiled down at her as he ran his fingers through her curls. He seemed to enjoy the soft feeling of her hair. “If anyone can make them listen,” He told her, “it’s you.”

“You think they will?”

“Why not?”

His words seemed to comfort her a great deal and she relaxed, “Lets hope they can be as open minded as you are.” She seemed to have another idea as she picked her datapad back up, “Maybe if I had a few more knowledgeable voices around… I think the other Pathfinders would be interested in this. I don’t know, this might be a bad idea, but…” She sent off all the data Sloane had collected about the rebellions to the Pathfinders and her father over closed channels.

“At least you’re willing to try.”

“I suppose. We’ll see how far that takes me.”

Kallo pulled her in closer, and she hugged him right back. “I trust your judgment. They’ll come to do the same.”

“If it’s sound.” She chuckled dryly.

“Has been so far.”

She smiled, knowing all she could do now was wait for a reply back from the Directors, hoping she would retain her confidence. She had to do this. “Thanks Kal.”

-

The Directors granted her a meeting. Even Kesh and Kandros were going to show up. Not only that, but her fellow Pathfinders wanted to hear her plan. Sara was actually amazed she’d managed to pull all of them together.

The Pathfinders were waiting for her when she approached Pathfinder HQ, smiles on their faces and a strange hope in their eyes she’d not seen there before. “Sara!” Macen was giving her a look that Sara could only interpret as a huge grin; she would be the first to admit that she still had trouble reading Turian expressions but this one was not so hard to figure out. He took her hand with both of his, “An Outpost on Kadara, well done!”

“You’ve thrown the station into a frenzy.” Raeka chuckled, “No one’s quite sure whether they should be worried or impressed. Or both.”

“Except for us.” Macen assured her, “We’re impressed.”

“Heh.” Sara blushed a little at the attention, “You guys wont be saying that once you hear what I’m about to propose to our Directors.”

“It cant be any worse than our start here in Andromeda.” Vederia shrugged, “Or our other plans.”

“Speaking of which,” Sara smiled, “you’ll be happy to know that Reyes shared supplies he found in Sloane’s stash. It takes care of part of our material requirements for Ghost Storm.”

“We’re well on our way.”

“I think it’ll still take an Outpost on Voeld for this plan to really become viable but we’re getting close. If we’re going after you-know-who we need to have our bases covered.”

“Pathfinders?” Tann’s aide had opened the door to speak to them, “They’re ready for you.”

Sara let out a breath, straightening out her jacket subconsciously. Her fellow Pathfinders waited for her to go in, following her up the ramps to where their leaders were all surrounding the HoloTable.

“Pathfinders.” Kandros greeted immediately, shaking Sara’s hand briefly when she came to stand beside him. 

“You’ve done the impossible, Ryder.” Addison was smiling, a rare feature to grace her face, “An Outpost on Kadara. You never told me how you pulled it off.”

“Politics, really. Sloane was shot dead a few days ago.” Sara replied simply, “Kadara Port has been taken over by the Collective who plan to start rehabilitation efforts. I made a deal with their leader that ensures our shuttles wont get shot out of the sky.”

“A dangerous gamble, Ryder.” Tann said.

“Gambles are part of the job.”

Kesh grinned, “I couldn’t agree more. Sloane was a piece of work.”

“That’s not why you called a meeting though.”

“Nope.” Sara shook her head, “I believe Sloane was planning revenge on the Initiative and riling up the exiles through fear tactics instead of facts. Now that we have a foothold on Kadara and Elaaden, we need to begin efforts to repair our relationship with the exiles so we can start allowing them to phase back into the Initiative.”

There was silence once she’d said it. Her fellow Pathfinders looked at her and the Directors with a mixture of shock, amusement, and Raeka in particular looked rather impressed. Kesh and Kandros immediately looked at Addison and Tann with strange expressions, like they’d been waiting for this moment. Addison’s eyes were wide but she didn’t appear too shocked. Tann was the shocked one, his eyes wide with fast blinks as he mulled over her statement. He was the one she stared at as she waited for a response.

“Uh…” Tann’s brows furrowed, almost like he was wondering if he’d heard her correctly. “We do appreciate your efforts Ryder, but the exiles are dangerous. Bringing them back into the Initiative is not wise.”

“Sorry Director, but I’m going to have to disagree with you.” Sara pivoted to face him fully, “Tell me, who are the people you exiled?”

“Criminals and rebels. They—”

“No.” Sara interrupted him, narrowing her eyes. “No the majority of the people you exiled were hard working Initiative colonists who came to Andromeda to start new lives.” She told him, “People, Tann. People who expected Golden Worlds and stability. Instead they got a burning Nexus with no Pathfinders and Jien dead. How do people keep their moral through that? Those that lead them give them hope that things will get better.”

“I—”

“But that’s not what happened. Instead of giving hope you gave these exhausted, hungry colonists speeches about returning to stasis that made them believe they were going to die, do you realize that? Sloane was your security specialist, she warned you that no one would return to stasis but you made the announcement anyway instead of trusting her judgment. These people were working day and night off few rations, their friends dead or dying. Then you lie to them about the Golden Worlds?”

“We didn’t want our workers to lose hope!”

“So you gave them false hope. That is so much worse Director. And still you’re surprised they rebelled? They were hungry and scared, six hundred years away from home. You two are their Directors and you betrayed their trust. What did you expect? Cooperation?”

“They were professionals, they should have listened!” Tann tried to defend himself.

“Jien _never_ would have blamed the colonists.” She told him in a very warning tone, “Its a leaders job to protect the trust and moral of those they’re supposed to be protecting. Instead you lied and denied, then you forced them to rebel through a mandatory stasis order. Then instead of consulting your security specialist or handling the situation peacefully you decided to wake up and involve the Krogan. They killed Calix. Did you really expect people to accept that?”

“You…” Tann sighed, “Pathfinder, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” She glared, “Sloane’s logs were very thorough, people I’m close to witnessed the rebellions and I’ve gone through Nexus security tapes more than once. The people feared you were becoming a Dictator Tann, you do realize that right? That’s what they call you out there. That wasn’t what we came to Andromeda for. You scared people that were under your charge when Sloane gave you multiple suggestions to avoid that. Addison you’re just as much to blame for not keeping Spender in check. The exiles rebelled because of _you_. Now that things have calmed down and we have Outposts its our responsibility to protect all of those who came with us across dark space. We have a duty to these people that must be upheld. We’ve lost their trust once but that trust can also be regained. Like it or not, our Outposts need help and the people who left were very intelligent, strong workers that we must try to assist, and who can help us if we can regain their trust.” Tann stared at her with a mixture of contempt, anger and regret. “You’ve never been to Kadara. You’ve not seen what I’ve seen, Tann. The people there, our people, are living in deplorable conditions. They are vulnerable to the Kett who capture them and experiment on them as they did with the citizens of the Paarchero. The exiles are forced into acts of piracy and scavenging and even murder whether they want that or not. There are _cannibals_ roaming the hills because they can’t find food to eat. There’s not enough water, not enough shelter. Does that make sense to you? Our people are _eating each other_ to survive.” Tann hadn’t heard that, and his eyes widened once she’d said it. She leaned forward with anger all over her face, “That is inhumane and unacceptable. And as leaders and figureheads we have a duty to help them. And while yes, many of them are despicable beings who are too dangerous to be allowed back into the Initiative, there are far, far more who left simply because they were afraid. And that, in it of itself, is unacceptable. We can’t allow this to continue. Too many have died already, we must give them a second chance. Wouldn’t you want one if you were lost out there?”

There were a few breathless moments of silence as her words sunk in. Eventually it was Macen who moved, a light chuckle escaping him as he shook his head. “Let it be known that Sara Ryder has balls of steel.” He smiled at her, “Whats your plan?”

“We assign some of our people to a new task group.” Sara started, “We get the world out to Eos, Kadara, Elaaden, all over the cluster. We let the people know that if they want to rejoin the Initiative they can sign up for a screening process. The station has cameras everywhere, the tasks group can scour these tapes with the assistance of Nexus VI’s to investigate whoever wants to rejoin the Initiative. Our VI’s can also be programmed to detect when people are lying; this means the task group interviews everyone to ensure that they didn’t leave the Nexus through serious crime or wish to return with ill intent. If they pass the screening they go to one of the Outposts, where they can be monitored for a specified amount of time. If they follow the rules and don’t cause trouble, they can be allowed visits back to the Nexus.”

“It’s risky.”

“So is everything else in this damn cluster. People who never left with the exiles have tried to sabotage this station more than once. Us accepting in good-natured refugees wont change that. It might actually improve relations. We must try; for their sake.”

“For their sake? The exiles chose to leave!” Tann snapped with disgust.

“Because _you_ pushed them to the point of desperation.” Sara snapped back, “They were hardworking people who saved this station over and over again only to be met with lies and incompetence and fear mongering! Their leaving, and the deaths that spawned from it, rest on _your_ shoulders. You can either own up to that fact or you can stop pretending to care about the Initiative, because they _are_ the Initiative. Am I being _clear_ , Director?”

Tann sighed, and after a moment he muttered, “Perfectly.”

“Good.” 

“Well,” Raeka smiled, “I like this plan, I support it completely.”

“Me too.” Vederia grinned.

“Thirded!” Macen was quick to join them.

“Seems sound to me.” Avitus nodded firmly.

Sara smiled at them gratefully and crossed her arms, “Kandros, think your militia can help a task group in screening and monitoring the refugees?”

Kandros, who had a smile growing on his face, looked to her with fire in his eyes. “Absolutely Pathfinder.”

“Kesh, can you place Engineers back onto your roster, and can you help Addison assign them to appropriate Outposts?”

“Easily.” Kesh was grinning too, “It wont be a problem.”

“Well then.” Sara looked back to Tann, “Seems this is on you now Tann. Technically we need your authorization, but I’d think carefully about your options here. You’re outvoted seven to one.”

Tann did not like the plan, it was obvious. He scrubbed at his face, weighing in his options. Then he looked to Sara. “You’ll be the one making the announcement.” He said, “You’ll be the one receiving reports back and you’ll be the one to blame should something go wrong. Are we clear?”

“Crystal clear.” She nodded firmly, fully expecting that response from him.

“Fine then. Kandros… assign a tasks group.”

Sara smiled and took a breath; he had given them authorization. She almost couldn’t believe it.

Kesh, Kandros, Tann and Addison all left to return to their work. Once they were gone Macen practically knocked Sara over as he grabbed her shoulders, shaking her in his excitement. “That was perfect, Sara! You’ve done something incredible for our people!”

Sara smiled at him, but she made it a point to not be cocky about it. “I hope so Macen. I really hope so.”

“Hope so?” The Pathfinders all seemed elated, “This is a huge victory! I can’t believe Tann accepted your idea!”

“Enjoy it for a minute.” Raeka urged, pulling her to follow, “Come on, I think our friends up in the Tech lab will want to hear about this.”

Sara followed along with her fellow Pathfinders as they went to the tech lab. They all chatted adamantly about how they could assist in bringing refugees back to the Initiative and ways their SAM’s might be able to assist in the process, laughing and in high spirits. Sara could see the Tempest as they neared the ramp, and at the railing Kallo was standing with Vetra, a datapad in his hand as he talked. Sara caught his eye when she thought the other Pathfinders were preoccupied; he smiled for her, mouthing the words ‘How did it go?’ silently to her. She grinned and gave him a thumbs up in response, to which he gave her a short and silent cheer before being distracted by whatever it was Vetra was talking about.

“Well now.” Macen stopped her with a smirk, “Who’s that?” He asked. Seemed Macen had watched the silent conversation between her and Kallo.

“Two of my crew.” She replied, shrugging casually.

“Uh-huh. I don’t buy that for a second.” Macen gave her a knowing look, “C’mon, who’s the Salarian?”

“Macen, you are such a nosy cloaca sometimes.” Raeka shoved him with a smirk.

“I’m just saying,” He said as they walked up the ramp, “that did not look like a conversation between two people who are ‘just friends’ and I am now extremely curious.”

“Seriously Macen?”

He laughed, “Sara you are basically the little sister I never had, I have the right to be curious.”

“Alright fine!” Sara laughed, “That’s my boyfriend Kallo, happy now?”

“No!” Macen gasped, “Really?” She nodded once, “How about that, I just lost a bet with your old man.”

Sara raised a brow in amusement, “You and my dad are making bets about my love life? Really?” 

“Not specifically about you, but he just won the bet through cause and effect.” Macen chuckled, “Think we could pretend it didn’t happen for another three weeks?”

“My dad already knows about Kallo.”

“Damn it.” Sara couldn’t help but laugh; it was so lighthearted, so normal. The welcomed break in between the chaos, friendships that would only form within the flames, something Sara knew she wouldn’t trade for the world.


	38. Updates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Look below for the full update!

Hey guys!

Due to needing to rewrite a lot of Frontier and change many aspects of this story, I've restarted the story in graphic novel form, which means this will no longer be receiving updates. If you'd like to follow the graphic novel version, which is updated and different from this version in some ways, you can head on over to:

**the-andromeda-frontier.tumblr.com**

Thanks so much for reading this story! I hope to do it justice in its new graphic novel form.


End file.
